Community Highlights: Meet Jack Moore of Black Cap Hot Sauce

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Moore.

Hi Jack, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always loved working with my hands and solving problems. I started my career as an auto mechanic, but after a couple of years, I was laid off due to the economic downturn of the late 2000s. That same day, I picked up a gig delivering pizzas for a friend who needed help and eventually worked my way into the kitchen. That timely experience sparked my appetite for the culinary path ahead.

I had a long stint running restaurants, most recently as the Executive Chef for Watershed Kitchen + Bar, Ohio’s first distillery-based restaurant concept. During my time there, we were named a Top 5 dining destination for four years running. Things were thriving, and I dreamed of opening my restaurant with the following I had garnered over the years. Then came the pandemic shutdowns, and I was again laid off.

However, there is a silver lining to this story. For the first time in nearly 15 years of leading a kitchen, not working the 65+ hour work week, and finally having some time to breathe, I could give time and thought to where my next steps in this culinary path would lead. I ultimately landed on a packaged food product I had already built up a following with – our house-fermented hot sauce. I had been using this recipe on my menus for several years, so I knew there was potential. After brainstorming, soul searching, and lots of zooms with friends and industry experts, we finally had a name and concept for our product. In early 2021, Black Cap Hot Sauce was born.

Black Cap Hot Sauce is an all-natural living culture fermented hot sauce. “Preserving a culture” is my brand’s mission, and that goes beyond preserving the live probiotic culture in the sauce. It extends to our sustainability practices, like sourcing local ingredients, composting all food waste, using recyclable glass bottles and metal caps, and amplifying the health benefits of fermented foods and a healthy microbiome.

Today, my wife, Nicki, and I are doing everything, and I mean everything. From chopping peppers to blending and bottling sauce to every social media post, to set up at several farmers’ markets and events every week, to taking orders and making the deliveries to our Ohio retail partners, it’s just the two of us behind the bottle. We’re excited about the future of fermented foods, where this journey will take us, and how to eventually grow our team and continue to invest back in our local food system.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been so many good things along the way, like our network of culinary supporters and local food system advocates. Without the same farmers and purveyors I worked with daily as a chef, we would have been limited in our reach and support from the get-go.

That said, the road has been challenging. I stepped away from running the restaurant about 4 months after we sold our first bottle of Black Cap, and while my wife continued to work full-time, it was up to me to prove that this idea had legs. I worked solo for about two years, doing all I could as one person, but it was enough to have Nicki jump to join me full-time at the end of 2023. That was huge – we doubled our team! We were excited and optimistic but a little nervous. Any time you leave your reliable paycheck for the unpredictability of entrepreneurship, it’s a considerable risk, but we jumped in with both feet. I’m happy it’s going well so far, and we’re learning so much every day.

Additionally, the perception of our product has been a challenge for some folks. The hot sauce market is gaining popularity on mainstream TV and social media. Because Black Cap is a living culture, fermented hot sauce is a refrigerated product. As a brand, we heavily focus on the fermented aspect, which gives the product its signature flavor and associated health benefits. The fact that we fit in better with the kimchi and natural pickles in the cooler aisle than with the general hot sauce category has been challenging to retail partners if they’re not open to learning why it sets us apart in a positive way. That said, the fermented food category (especially if you remove yogurt and soy sauce) is growing significantly, and even large chain retailers are recognizing this uptick in trend. We’re hoping that additional category entrants and awareness around fermented food, in general, will help support further reach in independent retail.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Black Cap Hot Sauce?
Above all, we are advocates for natural, fermented foods. Hot sauce is a fantastic vehicle for someone who hasn’t tried or enjoyed classic ferments, like sauerkraut or natural pickles, in the past. It’s something you can easily incorporate into everyday use, and aren’t we all looking for small ways to support our gut health? Of course, the health benefits of consuming fermented foods are great, but that’s not the end of the story for us; it’s also about the flavor. Fermentation brings out a savory, umami, funky side to the finished product that cannot be replicated in shelf-stable hot sauce or condiments, which is why we do taste tests at every event. It’s a huge differentiator. Lastly, fermentation allows us to prevent a lot of food waste by using whole foods, as we often accept deformed or wilted produce from farmers who don’t want to see their crops go to waste, preserving flavors to last beyond their short growing season. This was evident in our recent Jalapeno-Ramp seasonal release (as ramps only grow for a concise window in spring here in the Midwest).

Eventually, we see the opportunity to build this thing out to a whole fermented condiment line, like mustard or pickles. For now, however, we’re focusing 100% on building the Black Cap Hot Sauce brand in Ohio and beyond. Black Cap has been the OG product for years, and this will remain our focus. You may see another seasonal flavor release come down the pipeline (or, if you’re lucky enough, test out some “secret stash” flavors that are experimental super small batches of sauce available only at farmers’ markets or events). Still, we’re spreading the good word about our living culture, fermented hot sauce, one bottle and recipe at a time. By snagging or ordering a bottle of Black Cap instead of the go-to sriracha or brand name, people are helping us support our local food system, and that’s truly what it all comes down to.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I’d be doing us both a disservice if I didn’t call out Nicki, my wife and now business partner, for helping us get to where we are today. She believed in this dream 100% as I took the first step after leaving the restaurant, so to have her now working side-by-side with me still feels slightly surreal. We worked together on and off during our restaurant career. That’s how we met. Being a partner in life and business isn’t for everyone, but it’s a special kind of magic for us. We’ve learned to balance work with personal life and still be husband and wife. Remembering to take time off, penciling in mandatory date nights, and compartmentalizing work conversation with agendas and dedicated, specific weekly or daily times are just a few ways we’re trying to strike that balance. We still have a lot to learn, but together, we’ve created a system to help us organize the chaos of entrepreneurship and balance with who we are at the end of the day – just Jack and Nicki.

Pricing:

• $12/8oz bottle (Standard Retail Price)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blackcaphotsauce.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/blackcaphotsauce
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/blackcaphotsauce