Omaha entrepreneur's Volcanic Peppers brand capitalizes on hot sauce craze

[Omaha Steve]

The shop is just a couple miles from our house. We shop there often. Great stuff. I have one of their shirts seen below.

BRENDAN SULLIVAN/THE WORLD-HERALD

The family business at Volcanic Peppers includes, from left, Scott, Tim and Stephen Bader.



SARAH HOFFMAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
Peppers destined for distribution as a Volcanic Peppers product are ready to be picked near Tecumseh, Nebraska.

http://www.omaha.com/money/omaha-entrepreneur-s-volcanic-peppers-brand-capitalizes-on-hot-sauce/article_bde51633-9933-5361-9ff2-bc5169c79ea2.html

POSTED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2015 12:30 AM
By Cole Epley / World-Herald staff writer

The struggle for hot-pepper supremacy has raged at a fever pitch for the better part of a decade, with such warriors as the bhut jolokia, Carolina Reaper, the Naga Viper and Trinidad Scorpion all vying for the title of the world’s hottest.

Even though Tim Bader hasn’t crossbred his own peppers for submission to Guinness World Records, the Omaha entrepreneur still has managed to capitalize on the spoils of the war.

During growing season, Bader has more than 4,000 plants churning out between 15 and 20 varieties of peppers on a small, leased plot of land near Tecumseh, Nebraska. At their peak, those plants generate close to a ton of produce a week. That produce is shipped to Bellevue and turned into a variety of products: powders, sauces and salsa — all marketed under the trade name Volcanic Peppers.

Inside a cramped storefront on Fort Crook Road is where Bader and a small group of family members fight their own battles that include balancing space between shelf-stable ingredients and finished product.

FULL story at link. Video: http://studio.omaha.com/?ndn.trackingGroup=91341&ndn.siteSection=omahalanding&ndn.videoId=30021187&freewheel=91341&sitesection=omahalanding&vid=30021187


SARAH HOFFMAN/THE WORLD-HERALD

Sarah Wilkerson takes a bite out of a pepper as the Wilkerson family picks peppers in September for Volcanic Peppers.