who in the world is mr. phil?
About Me and My Background
I am Phil Ellis, the Mr. Phil on the label of the Alabama Hot Sauce bottles. I was born and raised in Eastern North Carolina. My dad was a real Pepper Head. From my earliest memories, I grew up eating hot stuff. In the spring and summer every year, my dad and I would walk around our beautifully landscaped yard, sampling hot pepper pods from plants growing between all ornamental bushes and flower beds. He took a great deal of pride in the variety of peppers he grew. We would walk the property sampling and picking peppers. He always carried a small glass of water so we could rinse the peppers before eating them. This was really fun for me and I developed a love for everything hot. Both my mom and dad were great southern cooks and we always topped our vegetables with a variety of diced hot peppers. My dad was the grill master and he always cooked with very spicy rubs and marinades. He made his own pepper sauces from the 'crop' in the yard, and the whole family splashed it liberally on all of our meats. In my childhood home, everything had to be hot and spicy. My dad, the Pepper Head, made me a Pepper Head.
I am now 69 years old and my Pepper Head ways have stuck with me. When I moved to Alabama, my new friends immediately identified me as the guy that loved the hot stuff. We cook frequently at our marina club and I have them all eating hot and spicy. They constantly brought my hot pepper grown by friends and family, and were always surprised when I gobbled them down.
So, with time on my hands, starting this little hot sauce company makes perfect sense. I hope you become a friend and customer - and I hope you like my sauces and agree that starting this company benefits us all. I will always be a Pepper Head and I want you to be one too!
what we make and sell. and how?
About the Process and Marketing
At Alabama Hot Sauce we make and market products of all kinds related to pepper and spices. However, our primary product is our line of bottled cooking and finishing hot sauces. We currently have 10 recipes on the market and more are being tested and introduced regularly. Our sauce lineup will comprise a number of regular recipes and other seasonal or limited edition sauce. Most of our sauces begin with fermented peppers, but we are soon to release sauces from raw fresh peppers and dried pepper pods, In addition, we currently have several pepper vinegare emulsions that are proving to be quite popular. We also have several hot and super-hot pickled pepper sauces in vinegar brine.
We primarily market our pepper sauce on our website at alabamahotsauce.com. We are also formulating plans to offer our products on other popular sites such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Etsy. We also do advertising on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. Our plans to retail our sauces at some limited grocery stores and local stores is being developed now. We did launch our business in time to enjoy the second half of the Florence/Lauderdale Farmer's Market. I will say that selling there was one of the most fun things I have done in quite a while. Meeting the other sellers, the regular customers there, and talking about my company and my sauces was a real blast. On most Saturdays Jan joined me and she became quite a sauce lady, considering her palette does not include hot and spicy things. i am working on changing that.
I will continue to expand my sales, my sales channels, and my market opportunities when possible. Right now, you can simply follow the SHOP link on this website and YOU can become an Alabama Hot Sauce customer right now!