Caribbean hot sauce brands face Scotch bonnet pepper shortage

Hot pepper sauce in Caribbean cuisine is as pervasive as ketchup in the US.

The fiery flavouring is a staple of dining tables regionwide, the obligatory accompaniment for everything from rice and peas, to curries and stews.

And as international palates continue to heat up to the potent taste, a growing number of brands are exported to North America, Europe and Australia, appearing on the shelves of major supermarket chains, from the US's Walmart, to the UK's Tesco, and Woolworths in Australia.

But a shortage of the particular chilli pepper used to create the quintessential Caribbean condiment is threatening to stifle supply, while sending costs for the region's producers soaring.

A confluence of extreme weather, disease and pests is making core ingredient Scotch bonnet peppers particularly hard to source, manufacturers tell the BBC.

The temperamental little, yellow fruit with its susceptibility to heavy rain and viruses can be tough to grow, while devastating hurricanes in Jamaica, a prime producer of Scotch bonnets, delivered a further blow.

Last October's Hurricane Melissa – the strongest in Jamaica's history – walloped the island's agricultural sector, while it was still recovering from Hurricane Beryl the year before.

"We were hugely limited, and we did have to cancel orders," says Sean Garbutt, of Associated Manufacturers, which makes Jamaica's popular Walkerswood sauces and seasonings.

Walkerswood exports more than 95% of its products – two-thirds of it to the US. Last year alone, the company sent overseas the equivalent of 500 20ft (6m) long cargo containers.

The primary factor hindering expansion "is always produce", Garbutt continues. "After Beryl, many farmers switched to sweet potato because it's much hardier and the price per pound is better.

"Our number one pepper sauce, which unfortunately is the hardest for us to maintain and control, is our Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce, made from our Jamaican yellow peppers.

"It requires fresh peppers as we don't add colouring. We crush them and within a week we need to cook them to get that vibrant colour that people like. The weather is always a challenge," Garbutt says.

Heavy rains can also impact the taste. Walkerswood is known for producing some of the fieriest sauces.

"We might get a call from someone who says they really enjoyed our pepper sauce, but it wasn't as hot as it normally is. We have to explain it's due to too much rain," Garbutt says.

Many Jamaicans are fiercely proud of the island's Scotch bonnets, which are something of a cultural cornerstone and a central feature in its cuisine.

"We joke that other countries don't know how to season their food," smiles Drew Gray, whose grandfather founded Gray's Pepper more than 50 years ago.

"Hot sauce is on the table of every cook shop and every restaurant. It's almost an affront if it's not there," he says. "We definitely have a high heat tolerance, which I think makes our cuisine unique. We have a heavy hand when it comes to seasonings, especially Scotch bonnets, which we add to everything."

As one of Jamaica's largest buyers of the fruit, for Gray's Pepper the shortages have been onerous.

"Climate change is affecting the Caribbean the hardest," says Gray. "Back-to-back hurricanes wiped off most of the crop so product has been scarce, and farmers are increasingly hesitant to replant.

"Needless to say, prices rose. Right after Melissa, Scotch bonnets went up maybe 10-fold, which was crazy. Over the last two years, there's been an overall increase of about 40-50%."

One way to navigate the impact is by keeping stocks high year-round, Gray says.

"Going into Beryl we had around six months of inventory, and about the same for Melissa. It's a strain on cashflow, but it allows us to weather the storms. If it's not hurricanes, it's adverse weather patterns. Scotch bonnets are very sensitive to overly wet weather as they get funguses."

Around two-thirds of the family-owned company's business is exports.

"Our premises were also damaged by Melissa because we were where the eye passed over. But we were able to get back up and running with orders going out within two weeks," Gray says.

"My motto is, we need to produce no matter what. Because we are able to carry inventory, our exports haven't been affected. At the end of the day, the big chain stores don't care if you have a hurricane, they just want the product."

The Jamaican government has been working to help farmers get back on their feet. That included supplying Scotch bonnet seeds to 650 growers.

"Peppers, particularly Scotch bonnets, are facing myriad challenges right across the Caribbean," says Dwight Forrester, of Jamaica's Rural Agricultural Development Authority.

"They're highly susceptible to viruses and pests like gall midges. But they are one of our flagship products and are a household name in Caribbean stores and Caribbean restaurants worldwide. We export 40% of what we produce," Forrester explains.

Many of Jamaica's peppers are sold to neighbouring Caribbean islands. In Antigua, the shortage of Scotch bonnets has been felt by manufacturers including Homebrew Hot Sauce.

"Sometimes we have to defer or reduce orders," explains company owner Ensly Smith. "We might tell a supplier we can only give them two of the four cases they ordered, for example.

"When peppers are in abundance we stock up. When Hurricane Melissa hit, we had close to 600lbs [272kg] in storage so we were able to stay afloat."

The six-year-old company, which Smith describes as a "pandemic experiment that blew up into something profitable", occasionally sees its hot sauce bought by the caseload by visiting tourists.

"People are definitely warming up to it. Caribbean sauce tends to be a little thicker and I think has more flavour than those from North America. We take a lot of pride in our spices and local seasoning," he adds.

Another Antiguan producer, Novella Payne, who cooks up a range of sauces, syrups and jams under her Granma Aki label, agrees. To avoid the high prices of Scotch bonnets, she also uses locally grown Moruga scorpion peppers, which are native to Trinidad. "They give it a nice flavour," she says.

Walkerswood, which has created its own farm through a partnership with the Jamaican government to grow a variety of crops for its products, is also funding genetics research to create a resilient strain of classic yellow Scotch bonnets.

"Lots of countries grow red chillis, but our yellow peppers are special," Garbutt adds. "I'm a purist at heart and I think our Scotch bonnets need to be properly protected."