In 1996, after growing and picking 7,000 peppers on his small lot in Arlington, Virginia, Robert Farr realized that hot sauces were definitely in his future. Having discovered the spicy, hot flavors of Thailand and Vietnam and the chile flavors of Cuba and El Salvador in area restaurants, Robert’s early familiarity with Tabasco on the family dinner table was replaced with an incredible range of hot sauce flavors.

That first winter he created 50 to 60 kinds of hot sauces, most of which went into the freezer. His wife, Carol, finally suggested that the freezer should be freed up and asked that he get rid of the sauces. When Robert asked what he was supposed to do with them, Carol replied, “Why don’t you sell them?”

Thus began Chile Man products. In 1998 Robert and Carol Farr and their two children moved to their 10-acre farm, Between Two Hills, in Loudoun County, Virginia, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They grow 132 varieties of peppers Not all of their peppers are hot; they grow about 20 varieties of sweet peppers, and a full range of vegetables, from lettuce through melons and squash; plus raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, elderberries, figs, herbs and flowers. All of their plants are grown from seed. Robert is currently finishing a 41’ X 20’ greenhouse that will move their seed starting out of their home.

Two years ago Carol designed their commercial kitchen to be built in the garage. The kitchen is 435 square feet with 12’ ceilings. Shelves they found at Costco are heavy-duty and will take extra weight to provide ingredient storage in the kitchen. Equipment has been purchased as money was available. They found a new 40-gallon, gas fueled, steam jacketed kettle for the bargain price of $800 to replace cooking in pots on an electric stove. Mixing is done in the kettle with an immersion mixer and a 3 1/4 quart food processor is used for horseradish and dried peppers. The kettle is fitted with a ball valve with interchangeable spouts for filling the various jars and bottles their product mix requires but everything right now is filled by hand. They would eventually like to add an 80-gallon kettle with a bottling line to speed up production. So far they have spent $2,000 on equipment and additional equipment will be added slowly.

Storage is commonly an underestimated consideration when planning a commercial kitchen. Empty jars and bottles alone can require an incredible amount of space due to the fact that purchasing must be done in sufficient quantity to make them affordable. The bulk of Chile Man’s storage is in the basement. This is where glass inventory and the finished product are held and shipping is handled from the basement also. Robert is looking for a shipping container in which to store the glass jars and bottles.

Seasonal labor provides planting and picking help and a cook works 10 hours a week in the kitchen. Robert is considering hiring a marketing person for 20 hours a week.

Working an estimated 120 hours a week, Robert and Carol grow, process, can and market Chile Man products. Fresh batches of sauce are made every two weeks. This year they will have 2,500 pepper plants in the ground and will produce more than 40,000 jars of product. They offer five hot sauces, six marinades, two barbecue sauces, five salsas, two mustards, an extract, a horseradish sauce, and a pesto called “Zhoug” which is a Middle Eastern recipe. All of these items are also available in gift baskets. One of their new items is the world’s first caffeinated salsa, a habanero sauce called “Zoom”. A “Product of the Every Other Month Club” provides subscription options ranging from five to eleven months.

Robert and Carol have worked through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maze of regulations. They are fully government certified in Acidified Food Processing, a requirement for anyone considering canning a processed food item. These courses are offered at various state universities around the country and your local health department should be able to steer you to one.

The bulk of their sales are from fairs and wine and beer festivals that run over 36 weekends a year. Retail sales from a weekend fair will run from $2,000 to $4,000. They will also participate in large outdoor flower and garden shows and wholesale food shows. Wholesale sales currently make up 10 to 15% of their income.Their well-designed and user-friendly website generates an additional 15%.
At this point most of their family income is made from the farm. Robert and Carol will only occasionally take some short-term free-lance work. They would like to expand their on-farm income to include cooking classes and perhaps hosting some “Farm Days” that could include private tours of local wineries.

Their website is an excellent example of how a website can make a small farm accessible, educational, and profitable. Robert believes that a website should sell something – even if it is only used to encourage customers to visit your farm. Robert’s background is in computers and Carol’s is in marketing and yet they hired someone to actually put together their website. This is probably an area on which many of us have not placed enough attention. Check out The Chile Man on the web at: www.thechileman.com. To contact The Chile Man: (877) 668-7160.

Joan Vibert grows vegetables and makes value-added products from Windwalker Farm in Ottawa, Kansas. She enjoys hearing from other growers about processing, and can be emailed at joan@windwalker-farm.com