Maritime Madness hot sauce business hits national markets

A Montague man is taking the craft brewery concept and creating something that will leave mouths burning and foreheads sweating — a hot sauce microbrewery.

Amiel LeBlanc has been making hot sauce in his Cardigan kitchen for more than 10 years. But Maritime Madness, a boutique business that he started in 2008, is growing nationally with more than 20 flavours of organic small-batch hot sauce as well as seasonings and spices

Despite his success, LeBlanc said he has no plans to leave the Island, preferring to operate out of a small store in Montague.

"It's two things. It's a lifestyle choice, just a short commute and more family time. And the other thing is, as a manufacturer, we can ship out of anywhere. We could probably run the same business anywhere in the country."

LeBlanc even grows most of the hot peppers locally.

"Habaneros are still a challenge for me. We're trying different techniques to extend the growing season for habaneros," said LeBlanc.

"But jalapenos and cayennes grow really well. So we've got over 2,400 plants in the ground this year. That's twice what we did last year. They grew really well, so we're going to keep on using as much local as we can.

LeBlanc also uses other local ingredients in his sauce, including P.E.I. honey, apples, maple syrup, local beer and even moonshine.

He says with the rise in popularity of spicy food in fast-food restaurants, he expects more hot pepper producers will emerge in Maritimes and across Canada in the not too distant future.