MINNEAPOLIS — In the 1990s, Joe and Andrea Hoelzel were running a catering business in the Twin Cities area. As a throw-in to their catering events, the Hoelzels included some homemade hot sauces.
The catering business has stopped, but the Hoelzels and their three employees are still cooking up hot sauces that don't try to ruin taste buds, rather to add a unique flavor.
"We're not trying to make them insanely hot," said Joe Hoelzel said. "We want them to be user friendly."
Creature Comfort Hot Sauce sells five different types of hot sauce, ranging from Thai chili, a jalapeno-cayenne that could be an alternative for buffalo sauce, and a citrusy habanero blend. They also sell a barbecue rub.
What's most important to the company is where the couple buy their ingredients. Hoelzel said they scour farmer's markets all over Minnesota and Wisconsin, finding the freshest produce they possibly can, while also supporting local farmers.
"We want to support Minnesota and we want to support the farmers," Hoelzel said. "If we're sourcing peppers, onions, all of that from our region, it's just healthier."
They don't use dried peppers either. Hoelzel said they get more of an earthy flavor using fresh peppers.
Creature Comfort Hot Sauce is sold in Lund's and Byerly's grocery stores in the Twin Cities, and the Hoelzels are working to expand to other markets in Minnesota. For one, they hope to be a vendor at next summer's Thursdays on First in Rochester, Minn.
Breaking into larger markets is a challenge, Hoelzels said. Participating in national conventions get the name and flavors into the competitive world of hot sauces.
"It's not in my nature to be a pest, but you have to be a pest," Hoelzel said. "I'm learning that."
The hot sauces and rub are named "The Stuf,f" "LV426" and "Zombie Poison," all references to horror movies.
The names have helped them standout, as well as being a hit at horror conventions.
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