Paek¯ak¯ariki couple on hot sauce buzz

When Mathew Watkins started making hot sauce two years ago, he didn’t think it would ever mean more than weekend trips to the market.

But when he handed in his notice at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, he had the opportunity to focus on something he enjoyed, and those who tried it are coming back for a second taste.

Apostle Hot Sauce opened officially in December 2019, but Watkins had been making it for years.

When he lived in Kelburn he would give it to the neighbours, one of whom worked for Iko Iko and now stocks the sauce in their store.

When they moved to Paeka¯ ka¯ riki, his partner Lydia Harfield suggested he sell it at the monthly market.

‘‘We started selling heaps of it, which I wasn’t expecting,’’ he says.

Watkins had turned his hand to many things over the years, but never found something that stuck.

‘‘I’ve been pretty OK at a lot of stuff, but this is the first thing that I’m good at.’’

They attended the Wellington On A Plate showcase market, and met a lot of people who were interested in their sauce.

‘‘March was the best month we’ve had, not in terms of sales, but people reaching out wanting to stock our product.

‘‘We were really looking forward to getting into April, and then everything changed.’’

The sauce is made by hand out of a borrowed commercial kitchen belonging to Paeka¯ ka¯ riki Pops, at the end of their street.

Before lockdown they had close to 600 bottles in stock but had to cancel shipments and halt production, and all the new stockists fell through. These were all back on track now.

The couple threw themselves into online marketing. Watkins had never used Instagram before, and found the power of it really surprising.

They tried to reach out and engage with followers personally.

Lydia made the labels, working alongside tattoo artist Juju, from Union Tattoo, for the design.

People were always telling Watkins they loved the packaging and, while he wholeheartedly agreed, he was more keen to hear what they thought of the taste.

They use four types of chillies, including manzano and cayenne peppers, and red and green jalapenos.

These are combined with some classic

Kiwi ingredients to create four flavours: chocolate and manuka chipotle; mango, turmeric and ginger; roasted capsicum and chilli; and kiwifruit and kawakawa verde.

Watkins had always been interested in reverse engineering food. ‘‘When I taste something I like, I will try to make it myself.’’

They currently supply to 17 businesses around New Zealand, and the plan is to stay small, but perfectly formed.

‘‘It’s only me and Lydia who make all the sauce by hand,’’ he says. ‘‘We have no way of keeping up with demand and still keeping the quality the same.’’

They could do about 400 bottles in about nine hours.

‘‘It’s a big day in the kitchen breathing in a lot of hot chilli fumes. It clears out the sinuses.’’

The dream is for their sauce to be ubiquitous, known as something integrally Kiwi, and the first thing people reach for when they think of hot sauce.

‘‘It feels like we’re going through a really big change as to how things are done. I feel quite thankful that I’ve put my time and energy into something I love.’’

Try it yourself via apostlehotsauce.co.nz.

‘‘It’s a big day in the kitchen breathing in a lot of hot chilli fumes.’’

Mathew Watkins

Apostle Hot Sauce