The recipe for success? It’s word of mouth

Al Bourbouhakis and Nancy Shaw have found the recipe for success. Literally.

“It’s word of mouth,” Al declares.

“We spend very little on traditional advertising,” Nancy adds. “We just try to put out the most delicious product so everyone will want to share it with their friends.”

Heartbeat Hot Sauce is the little concept that grew, a case of doing something you love and having it blossom from a sideline into a full-fledged business.

“We made our flagship product for ourselves to eat at home,” Nancy explains.

As often happens, they made too much of it. So they shared with family and friends — and watched it take off.

“They kept coming back for more, so we thought we would package it and sell it at the Farmers Market,” she says. “Before we could do that, local stores started calling and asking if they could sell it.

“It’s just been a wild ride ever since.”

Nancy and Al have worked together at various jobs. Nancy is part-owner of a north downtown restaurant where Al was the sous chef. It was there they began experimenting with the sauce and that their personal relationship developed.

In the meantime, the focus is on Heartbeat Hot Sauce. With three full-time employees and several part-time, they have been working on different flavours.

“I think one of us having cooking experience and the other having mixology experience led us to making a wellbalanced sauce,” Nancy says.

Adds Al, “We put a lot of effort into getting the perfect colour and texture, which leads to a uniquely thick and smooth condiment. It’s extremely healthy as well.”

They have installed an assembly line. With the equipment and production staff, it’s already opened doors for them. They are doing business in the U.S. and are now exporting to Europe.

“We’re curious to see how far we can take this,” Al says. “Never in our lives did we think we would be doing this for a living but it’s been the greatest thing to happen to us.”