We recently connected with Benjamin O’Neil and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Benjamin, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Extensive research and trial by error. We have taken the business slow to this point to allow ourselves the extra time to perfect our pepper fields, recipes and techniques, while slowly building a customer base. Our drive to offer healthy, clean foods, and our love for spice keeps our business moving forward. We have focused on quality over quantity, and we feel this process has allowed us to build a solid customer base.
We research in natural/organic growing practices, but rely heavily on prayer to lead us with wisdom to operate with quality and efficiency. We keep a customer satisfaction mindset, knowing that if we offer an exceptional product, the business will grow at it’s own speed and become stronger as we move forward. I’m a carpenter by trade, so problem solving and ingenuity are a couple of my strong suits. We improve every year, whether in better growing practices or more efficient equipment for the field or kitchen.

Benjamin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are a small family business located in West Fargo, ND. We have always enjoyed being in the kitchen creating dishes together, and used spice in most of them. I was constantly buying craft and local hot sauce to support small and local businesses. I was making food one day and was complaining again that all these sauces I was buying had all the heat in the world, but I really couldn’t tell the difference between them. My wife had heard the last of my griping and said, “Stop your complaining and make your own then!”. The guy that I am, I did!

We went to the farmers market and picked up some fresh ingredients. I made a few different styles and they were all a hit with friends and family, so we decided to start developing recipes. Up to this point I had just been throwing ingredients together, and trying to develop these into measured recipes was a challenge. I was having a difficult time getting the recipes to turn out right. I was becoming discouraged. How can I go from making fantastic sauces to dumping them? I decided to just whip together a couple batches without recipes just to prove it wasn’t a fluke. Sure enough, it turned out fantastic! It was enough to rekindle my spirit. The next sauce I made with a recipe, which is now known as ‘701 Sauce’.

We have expanded our line-up, and are now moving into other areas to include Bloody Mary mixes, pasta sauces, hot jams, hot honey, BBQ sauce. Seasonings will be added to that list later this year. We have expanded our fields and are nearing the point of “taking the plunge” and becoming a full time farm and manufacturer. We Offer our customers a spicy, but very flavorful experience with all of our products. We grow our ingredients organically and source the remaining ingredients from local naturally grown farms. Any ingredients not sourced locally, like some fruits and spices are fair trade/organic. We also make our spice products with as many fresh ingredients as possible, which is easier on the digestive system and offers many health benefits.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

One of our children was diagnosed with severe asthma when he was 5. This was triggered by sudden allergies to many outdoor items, but also A LOT of food items. This forced us to research other options, which at the time, wasn’t very many. During our research, we discovered the disturbing facts of our food system. The chemicals…. The genetics… The growing illnesses… After compiling this information, we got our family healthy. We were driven to get clean produce and products to people. We try to educate people on the importance of healthy foods and cooking. So many people don’t know more than basic herbs, let alone what to do with them. You don’t have to be a 5 star gourmet chef to make a delicious, healthy meal. We like to get the children involved and educate them as well. We’ve had a few that have dragged their parent(s) into the kitchen to make something with herbs or produce we gave them. It fills our hearts with joy to make an impact, even if it’s just “planting that seed” to get people involved.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Pushing yourself to the limits isn’t always beneficial, especially as you get older.

Being in construction, whether as a carpenter or manager, you get used to long, hard days. I’m still a full time construction manager. This is like having two full time jobs and a part time to fill in the gaps. I had to learn to rest. Something I hadn’t really known for the past almost 30 years. I had to unlearn pushing myself to the limits EVERY DAY. I have been humbled. I learned that stepping back and having a solid plan goes a long way. I would just get after our field and make things up as I went, the exact OPPOSITE of what I do at work all day. I had a bad habit of trying to force MY will. I handed that to the Father. When I realized doing it His way, rather than mine, things started flowing. Ideas popped into our heads. We have streamlined our system to allow us to be able to relax, and also plant gardens for others so they can grow food and give away or sell whatever they don’t want or won’t use.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thebenshotsauce.com
• Instagram: @thebenshotsauce
• Facebook: @thebenshotsauce
• Twitter: @thebenshotsauce