Who's Shaia and Why Hot Sauce?
Greetings! First and foremost, thank you for visiting my IndieGogo page!
I'm Tyisha Shaia, founder of Shaia's Hot Sauces. I grew up in a Southern household eating very flavorful and spicy foods and I was raised to appreciate every meal. Throughout my life, I developed an affinity for food by working in numerous food and beverage establishments. Shaia's Hot Sauces were created when I began working at my current job (Jivamuktea Cafe) that didn't have a hot sauce in the condiment section. After a few recipe trials, the Original flavor was born. It was such a hit that I decided to expand to other levels of spice. And so this leads me to today...
Shaia's Hot Sauces now has four levels of heat:
Mellow (jalapeno) has a light and upbeat flavor. It's best served in tacos or with quesadillas.
Original (cayenne) has a moderate and well-rounded kick. The best way to eat it is with tofu scramble, pizza, roasted potatoes, or mixed in with rice and beans.
Lava (habanero) has a bold and strong bite. It goes great over vegetable chow mein noodles or in fajitas.
Ghost (naga bhut jolokia) has the most powerful punch. Chana masala, dubu bibimbap, and vegetable stir fries provide the best pairings with this killer sauce.
The goal of Shaia's Hot Sauce is to offer a variety of great tastes by using organic ingredients. Whether your tolerance is low or sky high, there's a flavor for you.
Within the coming months, Shaia's Hot Sauce hopes to expand from being a condiment option at a vegan cafe to being on the shelves at local health food stores. You can help make that happen!
You Got What I Need and I Got What You Crave
Shaia's Hot Sauces needs $3,250 to get on our feet. Here's the complete breakdown of what the funding will go towards:
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Vitamix for quick and easy preparation (I've been using this Vitamix at my food prep job for the past few months and it not only cuts prep time in half, it makes the perfect consistency for the sauces) - $680
- Business registration: $120
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Bottles (300 10 oz woozy bottles with tops, oriface reducers, and shrink wrap): $400
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Labels (300 biodegradable Earthfirst labels): $500
- First big food order (fresh peppers, olive oil, vinegar, herbs and spices): $200
- Website (where orders can be placed online) + graphic designer: $200
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Kitchen rental (3 shifts + 1 month cold storage space): $1,000
- Unexpected costs (stuff happens): $150
And the moment we've all been waiting for... PERKS.
- $5: Personalized e-mail thank you
- $10: Public thank you on the Shaia's Hot Sauce Facebook page
- $25: One bottle of choice, public thank you
- $50: Two bottles of choice, public thank you
- $75: Three bottles of choice, public thank you
- $100: All four bottles in a wrapped home set, public thank you
- $250: All four bottles wrapped, public thank you, website mention, and personalized recipes for hot sauce use
- $500: All four bottles wrapped, public thank you video, website mention, personalized recipes, mini hot sauce recovery package
- $1,000: Two wrapped home sets, public thank you video, website mention, personalized recipes, hot sauce recovery package, I will make a dinner revolving around my hot sauces for you if you live in the NYC metro area, and love you forever
If funds are not completely raised the order of priorities are the Vitamix, food order, bottles + labels, website, business registration, and kitchen rental.
Let's Set The World On Fire
When making a contribution to or a purchase from Shaia's Hot Sauce, you can rest assured that you're supporting organically grown and locally sourced (when available) products. The environment is very important to us so we make a considerable effort to provide an eco-friendly product. The first round of bottles are contained in plastic but with successful funding, we will be switching to glass.
We will also donate 10% of all net sales to the growing and effective animal protection organization, Mercy For Animals.
So if you want to help the environment and help animals while enjoying the spice you love, Shaia's Hot Sauce is the way to go!
Shout It From The Rooftops
So what if you can't spare any change? That's fine! You can still spread the word. Like and share us on Facebook and follow and retweet on Twitter.
BIG THANKS to Derek Goodwin for the photos of the hot sauces and Kristie Anderson for the label design.
Peace & love, y'all.
