Professor Pods is a small, family run business that grows exotic chilies and produces artisan chilli sauces and chutneys. From seed to sauce, we do it all! How did this new company come into being? Read on…

I’ve been a lifelong fan of spicy food, eating my first Indian curry at aged just 2! I've grown chillies for decades as a hobby. What began as a journey into chilli horticulture soon became a passion for growing weird and wacky varieties. The more exotic the chillies I grew, the more I appreciated the complexity and diversity of their flavours.

Previously, I was a university academic – going all the way from student through to a group leader and university lecturer. I enjoyed a successful career at this but fancied a change of lifestyle. Given my passion for all things chilli, I decided to try chilli farming and making my own artisan produce. From this, Professor Pods was born!! The company name is a nod to my scientific background, and the rigorous and scientific way that our chilli peppers are grown, and our sauces developed and then produced.

The vast majority of the chillies we use for our produce are grown by us. Whilst this is challenging in South West Scotland, the extended ripening needed in our 'fair' climate yields chilli pods with an outstanding complexity of flavour.

The philosophy of Professor Pods is simple. We aim to grow varieties that are rare, exotic or not normally offered in the chilli arena, giving customers the opportunity to try something genuinely different. A particular specialty of ours is varietal chilli sauces - where the primary reason for buying a given sauce is the unique flavour offered by that particular chilli.

We do not, and will not, compromise on quality. Our primary focus is flavour, rather than heat for its own sake. For this reason, we use very high concentrations of chilli in our sauces, as this gives the best, unadulterated flavour. We do not 'cut' our varietal sauces with a lesser/cheaper chilli to bulk out our sauce. We could also use less chilli, and stretch our profits, but the sauce wouldn’t be as good, so no to that! We could sell smaller bottles, again to stretch profits, but we think you’ll appreciate our 'bigger bottle' sauces, which we only sell in volumes of 155 ml.

Our range spans the mildest to the hottest chillies, and we have something to suit every palate. Professor Pods sauces are perfect as everyday condiments, for cooking with (as a direct substitute for fresh chillies), or for use in marinades, dips, mustards, salad dressings, salsas, curries, stir-fries etc.

Come try them for yourself - you will taste the difference!!