Caribbean hot sauce producer Mama Lolly’s set to scale up to meet demand

Caribbean hot sauce makers Mama Lolly’s have announced plans to scale up production of their handmade hot sauce recipes.

The specialist food firm are already the winners of three Great Taste Awards, and are busy planning expansion following their success through online sales, independent delis and food fairs.

Director Donna-Lee Tapper explains: “Our Caribbean hot sauces have real provenance. The closely guarded recipes, developed by my grandmother, Mama Lolly, have proved extremely popular with discerning customers, and sales over the past few years have been very promising.

“So much so, that we are now looking at the next steps, including scaling up the business through a production facility, to enable us to reach a wider market. This is in line with our strategy of planned, sustainable growth.”

Donna adds that the story of Mama Lolly’s began when her family migrated from Jamaica to London in 1957, where they stayed for a few years before moving to Antigua.

She describes their journey: “My family and I opened a Caribbean vegetarian café, nestled in the gardens of the historic shopping area in Redcliffe Quay, St John’s. We ran it for 14 years and quickly developed a reputation for consistently good food, a great atmosphere, and a fabulous place for customers to meet friends.

“The hot sauces that we now make are almost an accidental by-product of Mama Lolly’s vegetarian café, because we needed all our own condiments and hot sauces for use within the business.”

She adds: “We would have the sauces on the tables and on the counter for anybody to use. We quickly reached the point where people liked the sauces so much that they would come by if they were travelling abroad, to pick up some bottles to take to their friends and family as gifts.”

Donna continues: “Fast forward to 2012; at this point we’re all back in the UK and I wanted us to continue making the sauces. We pared down our range to concentrate on just the hot sauces and the green seasoning. Our products are focused on Red Hot Sauce, Yellow Hot Sauce, and our Tropical Green Hot Sauce.”

Mama Lolly passed away in 2016, but Donna and her mother Maxine have continued her legacy by producing sauces and condiments according to her well-guarded recipes.  She and Maxine have been making these in small batches and have achieved good sales at food fairs and delis, and through independent hotels, as table condiments. They have also enjoyed good trading success with online sales.

“The success of our venture is measured by our customers’ feedback and repeat purchases, which means that we’re now planning to upscale our business and widen our marketing activities” says Donna.

She adds: “It’s great to know that we are poised for further growth. In reality, we are simply the stewards of these fabulous recipes, and our job is to retain their provenance and authenticity. I know that Mama Lolly would be delighted to know that her extended family have built a successful business on her culinary foundations.”

The team at Mama Lolly’s will be exhibiting at the Speciality Fine Food Fair at Olympia, London, on September 10th and 11^th. The event, in its 25^th year, is regarded as the UK’s leading showcase of artisanal food and drink. It has become the home of fine food and drink discovery for buyers, from across the retail, hospitality, foodservice, manufacturing, import and export, and wholesale sectors.