Down in the Tarheel State lives Tracy Campbell, and home to the Cape Fear Pepper Company. CFPC is one-stop shopping for all your hot sauce and spicy food needs, and there is a nice selection to be had…even if you have to deal with the eBay purchasing platform to get your hot & spicy goodies. Not only that, but there are a couple of hot sauces of his own that are worth your time and tasting dollar. You can see Jon’s review and our review of the CF Red Savina Hot Sauce as well as our review of his all-too-good Smolderin’ Chipotle Hot Sauce as well. As with all our cool hot & spicy food retailer compatriots, we dug a little into Tracy’s background and interests with his business. Here’s what he had to say:

Tell us a little about getting involved in the hot & spicy food business, and your love of hot & spicy foods?

I grew up on Southern cuisine. You know like soul food, fried chicken, baked beans with bacon, fried okra, fried, fried, fried…Great stuff, but somewhat life limiting fare to be sure…..It wasn’t until the mid 80’s that I was introduced to heat and spices in foods that were mostly grilled and not drowned in fat. While in the military and on surf excursions, I spent quite a bit of time in Central America and the Caribbean and was introduced to a new world of flavors and heat with almost every meal within the “third world” culture of fine dining. Man those folks know how to eat, and the best part is that most all of the recipes were, and still are, fresh, simple and healthy cookin’!! Ok, so that’s where my passion started.

Which of the products that you sell do you like & use the most, and why?

The Cape Fear sauces of course!

Quality ingredients and a higher concentration of pepper solids when compared to most mainstream products. When I say mainstream, I mean like Tabasco and other grocery store sauce clones.

In a wide world of online retailers of hot & spicy food, what separates you from the competition?

We have always placed an emphasis on providing the consumer with quality sauces with exceptional follow-up and customer service. We maintain our own inventory and work closely with the manufacturers in order to gain product knowledge that we can pass on to the consumer. We don’t just sell hot sauce to make a buck, we value the relationships that we gain through a successful transaction. A satisfied customer is a repeat customer.

Never looked at this as a competitive thing, it’s just been mostly an education to prepare us for our next step.

For those people who are looking for something a little different, or left-of-center, to try, what would you recommend and why?

Pancakes made with our Smolderin’ Chipotle sauce. Dump a helping of this sauce into yer pancake batter and Viola! Adds a smoky sweetness with a smidgen of heat.

We know that you make your own hot sauce. Did that pre-date your business selling other hot sauces or what? Do tell.

Indeed it did. My wife and I have been making our own “hoe-maid”™ heehee salsa and other fiery treats for almost 16 years. One of our upcoming products is a recipe created by my wife, aka “Sweet Sue”..

Any plans to expand what your business further, either for retailing our saucemaking?

Yup! As a way of getting to know the who’s who in the fiery food industry, I entered the retail side of the business first, and also to get a first hand lesson with how online business works. Now after a few years of mostly retail, yer gonna see some exciting new changes in ’07 as Cape Fear Pepper Company becomes more heavily involved with the “maker” side of the business.

Cheers!

Thanks, Tracy, for your support of our blog and we wish you all the luck in business we can muster!!! Below are some pics that ol’ Cap’n Bones sent us to show some of his homies and life in the Cape Fear Pepper Co. world…enjoy!

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