ABOUT US

Our Story

The beginning:

The story began when mates Jonny and Jamie met at Uni and formed a connection over a shared love of good music and good times. After a while it became clear that we had many things in common, including food and chilli sauce. For a while we weren’t fussy and any spicy morsel would do fine... Then one day, the soon to be FTC founders went on holiday to the Caribbean for the International Sol Rally in Barbados where you will find the most epic hot sauce served as standard at any respectable establishment. Paradise! There we were, sun blazing, tunes blasting, fine-tuned rally cars ripping past as we stood watching. Rum punch in one hand and a flying fish cutter lathered in obscene amounts of Bajan hot pepper sauce in the other. Young, dumb and full of dark rum - the foundations for the business were well and truly set.

Arriving back in the UK we each had a 2 litre bottle of Bajan sauce with us. Needless to say, supplies ran dry pretty quick. Sleepless nights were to follow. Cold sweats for the hot stuff. Eventually in a moment of desperation and destiny, a DIY batch of sauce was made in the traditional Caribbean style. Mangos, Scotch Bonnets… all the bits. You could practically taste the sea air again!

Early stages:

After the revelation that we could make our own hot sauce, we started testing out a load of different recipes. Living on tattie scones and spicy home brew, many batches were made in the pursuit of perfection. Once we had our recipe down and after feedback from family and friends, we decided to put our business degrees to (at least some) use. So we did what every professional start-up does in their beginning stages: bought some team hoodies and planned for company research excursions to the Caribbean. The hoodies are now well worn in but the ‘business trip’ is still in the planning.

We chose the name Free The Chilli because it is what we aim to do. We are all about celebrating chilli flavours in our hot sauce and food without it burning your taste buds off!

Here and now

We set up shop in 2018 selling small batches of hot sauce in our own kitchens. Since then we’re making way bigger batches in way bigger pots but some things never change… The music, the dancing and the smiles are ever present on batch day. Oh, and the turmeric stains.

In late 2019 we got our first shot at running our own street food at the legendary Pitt Market in Edinburgh for a a few months. We will ever be grateful to the Pitt for this and for taking us on as a weekly resident where we have been able to find our signature style, establish our classics and experiment with tons of different dishes.

When covid struck and trade was paused for everyone, we got the opportunity to takeover the kitchen at The Dog House pub in Edinburgh’s southside to do deliveries and eventually serving for actual punters. This was a great time and experience but with the arrival of Jamie’s first child, we decided to pass the torch to focus on family and our other projects. Big love to the Doge gang, thanks for the memories!

At some point along the way we managed to buy a food trailer that was lurking and gathering rust on the side of the road. It took a deceiving amount of work to get her ready for action but hot damn is she a beauty and a certified scran machine! The trailer gives us wings to get amongst any event so keep an eye out for when we come to spice up your postcode.

So we are getting there no doubt… Where? Who really knows. All we know is it’s been good and it shall continue to be good!

 
 

  • Co-founder and CSO (Chief Scran Operator).

    When not cooking food for the business, you may find Jonny whipping up a banging curry or naga pie washed down by a few pints of Guinness and then a wiggle to some phat basslines.

 

  • The Seal of Approval came to us from the shelves of a charity shop but has since become our business mascot and resident Seal. We don’t know anything about his past but from the glazed look in his eyes we get the impression he’s seen some things. He doesn’t speak much but sometimes nods in approval when he sees things he likes e.g. people supporting local and being kind to one another.

 

Meet the team

Spice merchants one and all.

 

  • Co-founder and in-house waste management system.

    Jamie will try his hand at all aspects of the business and will eat all the leftovers. A lover of good craic and dad jokes and now an actual dad meaning that the jokes are acceptable despite what anyone says. When not doing business bits or eating jam on toast, Jamie likes to be engrossed in music and spinning the wheels of steel whenever the chance arises.