Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Silvestri.
Hi Tony, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story starts in Chicago with a small garden bed. I planted two habanero and two ghost pepper plants. As the peppers would ripen, I would preserve them in a vinegar brine. At the end of the season, I had so many peppers fermenting that I investigated what to do with them and decided to make hot sauce. I grew up making and canning tomato sauce with my mom so I had an idea for what the process looked like. The first couple batches of sauce were canned in mason jars.
At this point, I had way too much hot sauce for just me. So, I gifted it to neighbors and co-workers that Christmas. They kept asking for more but I never imagined I could turn it into a business. That is before I moved to South Carolina. When I gave the same sauce to people here the response was far different and I often heard, “you need to get this on store shelves”.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The business side of things with all the red tape you have to cut through has been the only struggle. Making and selling my hot sauce has been the easy part. It sells itself and I have regular customers and stores I ship to all over the country. We are in a lot of local stores in our area too.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Radiation Therapy Hot Sauces is a side hustle and kind of a hobby. Cooking in a commercial kitchen couldn’t be more different than what I do for a living. I’m a software engineer.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
A childhood memory I recall, that relates to my hot sauce business, would be making tomato sauce with my mom. Every fall we would spend a day or two doing it. I would start at a farm early in the morning where we would pick about 4 bushels of tomatoes. From there we followed a series of jobs that resemble what I do when I make hot sauce. Washing the tomatoes, steaming them, running them through a machine that removes the skin, cooking the sauce, and lastly canning and cooling.
Pricing:
- Mr. Habato – $9
- El Gran Verde – $9
- Mad Mango – $10
- Blue Ghost – $12
Contact Info:
- Email: tony@rthotsauces.com
- Website: www.rthotsauces.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radiation.therapy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RTHotSauces
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rthotsauces
