In Los Angeles in 2009, Chris Ginder obsessed over making the perfect chicken wing sauce, something different other than Frank's Red Hot sauce as a coating. After countless trips to the local hot sauce store, he noticed that many sauces focused too much on heat and not enough on flavor. This is when his obsession shifted from wing sauce to hot sauce. What he needed was fresh, quality ingredients. Him and his wife, Mary, had a pepper plant on their apartment balcony, so Chris took the peppers and some sea salts, and Gindo's Spice of Life was born.
Photos Courtesy of the St. Charles Business Alliance
Chris and Mary relocated the family business to Illinois in 2015, and that's when Gindo's Spice of Life finally started to gain some traction. They started popping up at local farmers markets, and met the farmers who were actually growing the peppers for them. Before you know it, they were able to build their dream facility in St. Charles complete with an FDA approved manufacturing kitchen, warehouse, office space, and store front. They also were able to offer 6 year-round sauces along with dozens of small batch sauces, collaborating with craft breweries, coffee roasters, and more. They even started their very own Hot Sauce of the Month Club where you can try all the unique flavors they are creating.
Gindo's Spice of Life has certainly brought an immense amount of flavor to St. Charles. They are thrilled with the community and they feel it is the perfect location to continue to produce their own products and to grow their business. We couldn't be more excited to see what new flavors they have in store for us in the future!