By Arno Cornelissen
For the working class, it’s a never-ending hustle. “We’re trying to make a bit of extra money,” says Clinton Swart. “We love making food, and we enjoy hot stuff,” he added.
The family of three lives in Makhanda, a small town in the Eastern Cape, where they make homemade hot sauce. “We started with a green and yellow jalapeno and habanero sauce under the name Swart and Sons in 2018,” says Joelene Swart. “It was a pineapple habanero sauce. People still talk about it. After that, we changed the name to NeverEnuff Hot Sauce.”
Clint created the name (NeverEnuff) and the slogan (tastes like more). His friend helped them out with the design aspects. “I don’t want to be another gimmick. I want to make an amazing sauce, not something called ‘holbrand’ or whatever,” he says.
They started by making really hot sauce with Carolina Reapers. “The reapers and things are bitter, just hot. They don’t taste nice.” After years of trial and error, Clinton now uses “chillies of the chocolate variety. Like the Chocolate Bhutlahs. They have a floral note that blends nicely with the sauce.”
Petrol and courier costs are a big hurdle to overcome for small businesses. Clint says, “I spent a lot on couriering everything I need, then I met a guy from Johannesburg. A chilled dude who understands the issues that can arise for small businesses. He sells everything we need for the process. One delivery for everything helps with profit margins.”
The couple tried fermenting sauces, but it didn’t work out and they lost some money. Now, they only
cook their sauces, hot-filling the bottles and sealing them air-tight. They use only fresh ingredients with no added preservatives. The pair have secret techniques and recipes that make the sauce thicker, tastier, and more colourful. One, not so secret, is smoking the ingredients with pecan nut shells to add a hint of
smokiness.
“The pineapple-mango might be the next one in the range,” says Clint. “The plan is to make a nice collection with three different sauces, characters, and colours with cool-looking packaging as a gift hamper. A trio. The red, purple, and yellow.”
Currently, they sell 48 bottles at R70 a bottle to a client who sells each bottle for about R100. They are able to sell the product to anyone who wants to buy it within a few days if stock is available. “If we don’t have stock, please give us about ten days from when your order has been placed,” said the Swarts.
You can contact NeverEnuff Hot Sauce at nevaenuffhotsauce@gmail.com for any inquiries or
orders.
