Hot sauce for your market booth, labeled and ready to sell

Produce farms that want a product to sell after the tomatoes are gone, pepper growers who get asked for hot sauce every week, bakers and jam makers filling out a table, craft-fair vendors, and market managers who want a sauce with the market’s own name for the info booth.

Cottage food laws let small producers sell some homemade foods without a commercial kitchen, but sauces are usually left out. In Colorado, the state health department lists condiments such as ketchup, mustard and hot sauce as ineligible under the Cottage Foods Act, and Colorado State University Extension’s guide lists condiments and sauces, including BBQ sauce, among the excluded foods. Other states draw their own lines, so check yours.

The practical route is to sell a sauce that was commercially produced and fully labeled, and to put their own name on it. Ours are made in a licensed commercial kitchen in Colorado and arrive with every required label element on the bottle, so you are reselling a finished, packaged product rather than making food. This is general information, not legal advice.

Every market sets its own rules. Before you order, ask the manager what they need. Common requests:

• Your application listing every product you’ll sell, including the sauce.
• A sales tax license, since most states require one for retail sales.
• Product liability insurance that covers packaged food you resell.
• Proof that packaged food comes from a licensed facility. If your market asks, contact us and we’ll help with what they need.

Market shoppers assume you grew or made what’s on your table, so the label has to be clear. Put your farm or stand name on it, and a line like “our pick for your eggs”, but don’t call the sauce homemade or say it’s made with your peppers unless it is. “Made in Colorado” is true of every bottle.

The front of the label needs a descriptor such as “Hot Sauce” and the net contents line, 5.0 FL. OZ. (148mL); the Studio adds both. Ingredients, allergens, Nutrition Facts and the producer’s details are printed on the right-hand panel at bottling.

Vendors order at wholesale prices with a wholesale quote: send the label, flavor and quantity, and we reply with wholesale pricing and an invoice. The 48-bottle minimum costs $327.00 delivered, or $6.81 a bottle. Priced at $12.99 at the booth, each sale leaves $6.18 (48%) before market fees and card fees.

If you sell a dozen bottles on a Saturday, the minimum lasts about four markets. A larger order of 96 costs $6.47 a bottle and covers a longer stretch of the season. Reorders usually arrive two to four weeks after you order, so reorder with a few Saturdays’ stock still in the bin. The margin calculator on this page runs your own price and pace.

Keep the cases and the display bottles in the shade: sun fades printed labels and warms the sauce. Set the bottle next to what it goes on, such as eggs, tomatoes, corn or tortillas, and write two pairing ideas on a small card with the heat level.

Tastings help people choose a heat, but sampling rules vary by market and county, so ask before you open a bottle for tasting. Round prices help a busy table: a single price and a two-bottle deal keep the line moving.

Market crowds include kids and cautious tasters, so lead with a medium: Garlic Serrano (Heat 2/5) goes with almost everything on a produce table. Mango Pineapple (Heat 2/5) is the fruity one for summer, and Habanero Pumpkin (Heat 3/5) is the fall pick when the squash comes in. Glitter Bomb Sweet & Sour at Heat 1/5 is the family option.

A second product in the 12 oz bottle, such as Habanero Honey Mustard, gives grill-minded shoppers another reason to stop. Each flavor and each design is its own batch with its own minimum.