In Good Taste: Ambika Rajgopal, Founder, Haute Sauce Founded in December 2019, Haute Sauce makes use of fresh ingredients that range high on the Scoville scale to create what its website proudly declares to be "pure fire."
By Aby Sam Thomas Edited by Aby Thomas
You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
This article is a part of In Good Taste, a special feature built for the August 2021 issue of Entrepreneur Middle East showcasing 10 of the UAE's most promising homegrown food brands.
As far as origin stories go, Haute Sauce founder Ambika Rajgopal's tale of how she came to launch her enterprise should sound quite familiar to her peers in the startup space. To put it quite simply, she was on the hunt for a product that wasn't available in the market at large, and so, she decided to fill that gap by creating what she wanted by herself.
In Rajgopal's particular case, what she was on the prowl for was, as she puts it, "blow-your-minds-spicy hot sauce." And that is probably the best description of what you should expect when you buy from her UAE-based artisanal hot sauce brand.
Ambika Rajgopal, founder, Haute Sauce. Source: Haute Sauce
Founded in December 2019, Haute Sauce makes use of fresh ingredients that range high on the Scoville scale to create what its website proudly declares to be "pure fire"- and I can personally vouch for the fact that its sauces are certainly that, and perhaps more. But, funnily enough, one of the challenges that Rajgopal has come across in her time at Haute Sauce is describing how hot her sauces actually are. After all, if you're used to making use of those that are commercially available (which are quite meek in terms of real spice levels), you might flip out when encountering the sauces Rajgopal makes using habanero peppers (100,000-350,000 on the Scoville scale) and ghost peppers (more than a million on the Scoville scale). "The word "spicy' is so relative and subjective– what's spicy for one person can be mild for another," Rajgopal explains. "I think though that over time, we've grown a reputation of being a hot sauce for real spice heads."
Indeed, it's thanks to these "real spice heads" that Rajgopal ended up making Haute Sauce the business it is today. "We weren't planning to do this commercially," she reveals. "Our growth was really organic. I gave some to friends, they ended up taking it to work, and before I knew it, I was getting orders from colleagues, friends, and friends of friends. After that, it just felt natural to make it official, and expand our product range– and since then, there's been no looking back."
Haute Sauce Haunting - Ghost Peppers. Source: Haute Sauce
Haute Sauce currently offers sauces in four different varieties: Original (made with habanero peppers and coriander), Haunting (the hottest of the lot, thanks to its use of ghost peppers sourced from Northeast India), Puckering (a seasonal blend of habanero peppers and raw mango), and Mellowing (made with Thai bird's eye chili and roasted yellow capsicum, for those with lower spice thresholds).
It's perhaps worth reiterating here that Haute Sauce's offerings don't have the vinegary, overtly acidic flavors one finds in most commercially available hot sauces- these have a real stab of heat, and they are also completely natural, vegan, and gluten-free. "All our products are freshly produced and preservative-free, using quality ingredients," Rajgopal adds. "Since we are a micro-saucery, we only make hot sauces in small batches– so, we never compromise on freshness, quality, or taste. This makes us stand out."
Related: In Good Taste: Ramie Murray, Founder And CEO, Dibba Bay Oysters
This would explain how Haute Sauce can boast of some amazing accomplishments while still being a nascent brand- its very first collaboration was with Michelin-starred Chef Akira Back's eponymous outpost in Dubai. "We are so grateful to Chef Giovanni Ledon for believing in us and pairing the flavors of one of our sauces so finely to create a charred pineapple and enoki mushroom ceviche that was served at Akira Back as a special in November 2020," Rajgopal recalls.
Haute Sauce Haunting - Ghost Peppers. Source: Haute Sauce
But it's not just those in the F&B scene that have been impressed by Haute Sauce. "Most recently, we were approached by Fenty Beauty, the international makeup brand launched by globally renowned popstar Rihanna, to do a collaboration with them," Rajgopal reveals. "We were one of the few brands that was pitched to the Fenty Beauty headquarters in California, and we were selected by them to collaborate with the brand for its PR campaign to launch its new lip gloss, Gloss Bomb Heat, in the UAE. We are still reeling from the excitement of it all- it's our first collaboration with a brand that is both international and non-food related, and we are very proud to have been part of such a unique and out-of-the-box partnership."
As gratifying as all of these achievements have been, Rajgopal is also happy to admit that as an entrepreneur, she remains overwhelmed by the response she has received for Haute Sauce so far. "The following we received for our products has been so humbling," she says. "Despite not being from the food industry, people were so encouraging, and they gave us incredible feedback. I have to thank my initial supporters for affirming their belief in a product that was intended initially just for myself- that's what allowed Haute Sauce to turn into the brand it is today."
HOT TAKES: Haute Sauce founder Ambika Rajgopal shares her tips for wannabe entrepreneurs aiming to follow her lead.
Use your instinct (and follow your gut) "You have to learn to trust your gut, and let it lead you into making informed choices."
Action your idea "While planning is essential and integral, too much over-planning and over-analyzing can be detrimental, and can waste precious time."
Think like the consumer "While it's important to hit your targets and goals for the business, it's important to put yourself in the shoes of your customers, and see every situation from their perspective."
Find your niche "I think saturating an already oversaturated F&B market does little to no good. It's so important to carve your own niche, and make your product different to other brands in the market. It's important to constantly push forward your strengths and differences as your unique selling proposition."
