Like many good relationships this one started with a message in our DMs…

Mat kindly reached out to say how much he enjoyed our IKU meals, but then we became intrigued by his IG handle @MatsHotShop - what’s a Hot Shop?

A minute or two of digging further we understood. Mat’s built a lovely business with a great community and is the producer of a fine range of plant-based hot sauces, of which we are now big fans. So we wanted to get to know the Mat behind Melbourne’s most famous Hot Shop.

• Where did your love of spice come from?
  Growing up I didn't eat much spice at all! Mum didn't eat anything spicy and since she was in charge of the cooking, chilli just never made it into my dishes. It wasn't until I was older and moved out of home that I got the taste for chilli, at first it was painful but I found myself going back to it time and time again. Once my tolerance was built, I couldn't eat a meal without chilli and it was then that I started discovering hot sauces. I had a friend in Texas who I would speak to online and he would recommend me hot sauces to buy from a store in Austin called 'Tears of Joy' (RIP) and I would purchase like 20-30 sauces at a time so I had a big range of flavours and heats available when I needed them. I couldn't find many in Australia that I liked so I would spend a bunch of money bringing in the sauces that I enjoyed. Fast forward like 10+ years I find myself in New York at the NYC hot sauce expo, at the time I was working in the music industry but I remember at the end of that event thinking to myself 'one day I would love to do something in this industry' and it was only 6 months later that I found myself without work and the idea of Mat's Hot Shop had begun.
  
  
  

• A Hot Shop - respectfully - why?
  We operated online and at farmers markets for the first 2 years of the business, but the goal was to always get to a point where we could open a shop that our customers could come and sample everything before they purchase. Food is something that I believe people still want to buy in real life, its easy to buy a hot sauce online but there is nothing better than being able to come into the store and try everything you are interested in first to get exactly what you want. I believe our customers appreciate this so much which builds a great connection between the brand and the customer, in these times brand loyalty is so important and I think we do a good job at giving our customers what they need.
  
  
  

• How important are fresh ingredients to your sauces?
  All of our hot sauces that we produce are all natural, we don't use any thickening agents, extracts, additives or preservatives because we believe in real food. Having fresh ingredients will always produce a more flavourful product in the end and at the end of the day we don't mind how hot people like it, we just want to help make their food better!
  
  
  

• Where do you look for inspiration for the sauce ideas?
  I'm always playing around with new hot sauce ideas in my mind, but unfortunately I don't always have the time to create them. We have 9 sauces at the moment with a 10th one being released before the end of the year, plus some fun collaboration projects that we are getting a little more experimental with. I like to keep an eye on international market trends and see what flavours are trending, but I think at the end of the day our customers give us great feedback on what they enjoy in the tasting room and I know we really need to release a smoky sauce next!
  
  You can pick up his Spiceland Taco Sauce as a part of our Special Bundle this week, or you can check out his sauces directly on his site HERE.