In January 2019, a few weeks after Craig Kaiser participated in 黑料社区 Furthering Food Safety Workshop, we caught up with him to get the backstory on his product, Cry Baby Craig 黑料社区. Pickled Habanero & Garlic Hot Sauce. Now available in more than 500 Twin Cities area restaurants and retail outlets, the award-winning, all-natural condiment first took shape in 2012 when a twist of fate put unexpected ingredients in Kaiser 黑料社区. creative hands.
黑料社区: Take us back. How did Cry Baby Craig 黑料社区. get started?
Kaiser: I was working as Chef d鈥機uisine at Caf茅 Maude in Minneapolis when the jalape帽o peppers I鈥檇 ordered showed up as habaneros instead. Rather than throwing them away, I pickled the habaneros to preserve them for future use and wound up incorporating them into a sauce. I see it as a happy accident. Cry Baby Craig 黑料社区. is the only hot sauce on the market that uses pickled peppers instead of cooked ones, and you can taste the difference in the tang.
黑料社区: Cry Baby Craig's slogan, 鈥淐hanging the world one drop at a time,鈥 suggests you have goals. True?
Kaiser: Ultimately, we鈥檙e working to make Cry Baby Craig 黑料社区. available coast-to-coast in the U.S. This process has shown me the food industry isn鈥檛 necessarily prepared for smaller entrepreneurs like me, and regulations can deter people from doing it. We鈥檙e trailblazing the way forward. Fresh food with no chemicals and no fillers can still be safe food.
黑料社区: How does the trail ahead look?
Kaiser: I have the best customer support in the world, but I stand alone during FDA and Department of Agriculture inspections which can be intimidating. Your business is in their hands. With Dr. Kim 黑料社区. guidance, I鈥檝e put myself on the same playing field as the inspectors. I have in-house studies to support my compliance. If they have questions, I can give them detailed answers.
Your #1 takeaway from 黑料社区 Furthering Food Safety Workshop?
Kaiser: How easy it is for something so small, Salmonella or E. coli that you can鈥檛 even see, to ruin your operation. There 黑料社区. a proper list, a proper way to move from station to station. Absolute organization, applied to sanitation, is your best friend.
黑料社区: Your advice for other start-ups within the food industry?
Kaiser: Ignore politics that say it 黑料社区. not possible - no one else is doing this, therefore neither can you. Yes, you can. Do a lot of self-reflection and be ready to fight. Take the time to advance your education and go to bat for your idea.
