How the Rise in the Cottage Food Industry Is Taking On The Might of Big Food Corporations
And a recipe for the hot sauce I would build an empire from named "Fogos"
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I knew there were nice corners of the internet (other than Substack of course).
Corners where small revolutions are happening. Revolutions that stab at the heart of what we consider normal when it comes to food.
Corners where small, independent cooks, bakers and condiment makers are making small-batch products and selling them on direct-to-consumer online platforms or via independent stores.
Yes folks, now, there are places you can buy nonna’s pasta direct from her kitchen to yours.
I’m delighted about this trend because when it comes to food, there is so much to be unhappy. Ultra-processed food. Large food companies disguised as small.
Big meat, Big dairy, Big everything.
But small is happening. Small is here. Small is thriving.
And if it continues to grow, it could change everything.
It’s the pandemic’s fault
The cottage food industry has always been a thing. Even I dabbled with it over a decade ago, making chilli jam and chutney to sell at local fairs.
But unsurprisingly, the industry saw an influx of interest when the pandemic struck and people had time to hone their craft.
Think of the sourdough craze.
The pandemic was the start of an entrepreneur boom and that includes food companies. Even four years after the onset of Covid-19, America still sees 59% more new business applications every year than pre-pandemic.
It helps that there was also a relaxation of US food preparation laws in 2021.
Whilst in the UK we have always been allowed to use our home kitchens to make commercial food (with a health and safety inspection from the local authority), that was not the case in the US. Pre-2021, many states only allowed commercial food to be made in commercial kitchens.
That has changed. Depending on where you live, you can now use your home kitchen for commercial activity.
Which is why now, a Turkish woman can make burek in Florida and send it to you in California.
What’s more, the cottage industry is getting cool.
The image associated with cottage food industries is usually some variation of a woman selling chocolate truffles or brownies at the local county fair. Probably with wonky home-printed stickers on the packet (is that Comic Sans I see?).
Don’t get me wrong, there will always be room for that. It’s lovely.
But what is happening now is arguably better. Cool branding. Viral social media posts. And a brand new demographic lapping it up.
Not very cutesy. Not very demure.
It will likely come as a surprise to no one that Gen Z are the generation leading the charge in intentional food choices. And if there is one thing we know about Gen Z, it’s that they’re driven by aesthetics.
The cottage food industry would be wise to listen to them, and listening to them they are.
Take Delli, a British-based platform that sells small-batch products mostly produced by people in their home kitchens. The aesthetics are very Brat — exposed light, brash, slightly messy and incredibly social-media friendly.
Nothing like the cutesy farmer’s market aesthetics of yore.
It’s working. Delli — which incidentally is owned by owner of Depop Simon Beckerman — has raised $10.8m in investment.
All from selling cottage industry products.
I mean, tell me you don’t want to buy this vinaigrette on the branding alone:
Aesthetics can of course, only get you so far. But I can also tell you these vinaigrettes taste great because good friends of mine produce them.
Couple Gus and Juno make ’grette — small-batch, quality ingredient-led, additive-free vinaigrettes — out of their south London kitchen.
This is a runaway success story. Despite launching just four months ago, they are constantly selling out on Delli and sell to some of the top London retailers including Selfridges.
As any Brit will tell you, selling in somewhere like Selfridges means you’re doing something right.
‘grette is just one example of countless small-batch, artisan, independent products that are killing it with the younger demographic.
TikTok has its part to play too. A recent clip about the Oregon Trail Sourdough Preservation Society — who give away a 177-year-old dehydrated starter — went viral, pushing demand from 30–60 batches a week to thousands every few days.
Imagine if they charged. Many sourdough cottage industries do and do very nicely out of it.
Give a brand the right marketing, social media presence and a decent selling platform like Delli and you can appeal to kids who actually care about this stuff.
Because that’s the bottom line. These small-batch products are made by people who care about quality food and are selling to people who care too.
With all the doom and gloom about ultra-processed food, large businesses appropriating as small and the plummet in food quality, this is exciting.
I’m always for the small sticking it to the man
Especially when the man is a trillion-dollar food industry that does not always have your best interests at heart.
Most of us are aware of the ethical, environmental, and health implications of big food industries. The term ultra-processed is now so common, it found its way into the Oxford English Dictionary in March 2024.
Whilst I’m on the record for saying I don’t want to be preachy about terms like those — and I certainly don’t want to judge those who buy UPFs because that includes me — I’m always delighted when people stick two fingers up to big corporations who care about little more than bottom-line profit.
Sometimes that manifests as cooking for yourself. And sometimes that’s buying small-batch, independently-made products whenever you can.
If I were to make my own cottage industry product…
It would be hot sauce.
I’ve worked for a very long time on my iteration of a perfect hot sauce and I think I have it.
I would call it Fogos (fire in Portuguese) and I would make it from Portuguese-grown chillies. They are in season right now and I secured a bag’s worth at the market this morning:
I would use a high-quality Portuguese white wine vinegar and I would sell it to all the excellent new restaurants and delis that are cropping up in Portugal.
Perhaps one day, I’ll make this happen. But for now, I’m going to share my recipe Fogos hot sauce so you can make it at home.
This is a non-fermented hot sauce which takes less than an hour to make.
Swap the chilli variety depending on what you can get your hands on. Usually I opt for long red chillies with a medium heat.
Whatever you do, don’t use bird’s eye chillies. They are too small and hot.
My go-to vinegar in the UK was distilled malt vinegar but now I use a decent white wine vinegar. A good quality cider or distilled white cooking vinegar will work too.
Sterilise your jars with boiling water or by sticking them in a cold oven and heating it to around 150C (300F). Once it reaches temperature, keep the jars in the oven for around 15 minutes before carefully removing and allowing to cool.
Once the hot sauce is open, keep it in the fridge.
Depending on the size of your chillies, this recipe will make around a one-pound / 500g jar. Or do what I do and make smaller jars, storing them upside down in a cool, dark place.
Approximately 15 long red chillies (around 200g / 7oz)
8 medium to large garlic cloves
Half a tennis ball sized brown or white onion
One third of a medium sized carrot, peeled
1/2 cup / 120ml water
3/4 cup / 175ml vinegar
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp hot smoked paprika (optional)
Using gloves, cut open the chillies and remove the ribs and seeds. Roughly chop them along with the onion and carrot.
Pulse the chillies, onion, garlic and carrot in a mini food processor until you’ve got a medium-fine dice. You can also use a knife for this.
Add all ingredients to a pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer with the lid on for around 30 minutes.
Take a stick blender to the sauce. I like my sauce on the chunky side, akin to a pesto. It’s up to you, it can be as chunky or smooth as you like.
Thickness is again, chef’s choice. I like mine on the thicker side. Don’t forget that the sauce will thicken as it cools so you want it just on the side of too runny of your preferred viscosity whilst it’s hot. If you think it’s much too runny, you can simmer it a little longer.
Carefully pour into a jar whilst it’s still hot, stick the lid on and you’re done.