Spotlight: Wild Sauce Co

Sometimes brands deserve a little extra attention. Brands that clearly put a lot of love and passion into their brand and do things just a little differently than others. A good example of this is Wild Sauce Co, from Belgium. Joris and Bavo are the men behind this brand, which not only makes delicious sauces, but also does so in a very responsible way. They do everything themselves on their own regenerative micro farm, from growing peppers and other great ingredients to fermenting.

Wild Sauce Co in the SPOTLIGHT

Of course, we want to know more about this, which is why Wild Sauce Co is the first brand in our spotlight. Not only will it get the attention it deserves on our website and social media for a week, but we will also introduce you to the brand, the people behind it, and perhaps even more importantly, the story behind the sauces. Wild Sauce Co shows that hot sauce can be much more than ‘just’ hot sauce. Sustainable, unique, and with a great story.

When did you start Wild Sauce and why?

Joris: Officially? May 24, 2024. But we had already been experimenting with peppers and fermentation for several years before that.

You do everything yourselves on your regenerative microfarm Het Zonneveld. How did that project come about?

Bavo: I founded Het Zonneveld a few years before Wild Sauce Co came into being. It’s a post-Covid brainchild where I combine seed cultivation, rarer fruit crops, and nature conservation in a culinary testing ground. A small-scale reconciliation between nature and agriculture, as it were. Wild Sauce Co emerged from this as a side project using part of the harvest, but has since become the main focus of the cultivation beds.

You focus on wild nature and sustainable cultivation. How does that influence the production process and the final product?

Joris: It gives us much more control and a mission we can fully commit to. Sustainability is simply a matter of course for us. The more care we take for the health of the soil, the products, and the environment, the more we get in return. But sometimes that just means chaos, haha.

Bavo: The humus-rich soil and organic fertilization result in more fulvic acid, amino acids, and terpenes, which greatly influence the quality and taste of the fruit. We notice that our peppers have much more of their species-specific aromas compared to wholesale peppers. This is a direct result of natural open-field cultivation. So we are in control of that higher quality standard ourselves. By making our chain (extremely) short, the peppers can be processed immediately after harvesting in fermentation vats or in another way, without any loss of quality.

 

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Of course, there are also disadvantages. Think of the extra time and effort, the different learning curves, and… a changing climate. For example, 2024 was an extremely wet year, which caused all kinds of practical problems, different harvest times, varying sugar levels, things that you would hardly notice if you worked with a supplier. We bend with the rhythm of the seasons and our environment.

This also means that in certain seasons you can produce much less or even nothing at all. How do you deal with that?

Joris: We are a “one-stop shop” for sowing, harvesting, fermenting, and producing. Each season is characterized by a different activity. So we can’t produce sauces all year round; we do this after the harvest and fermentation process. Now, in February, for example, we are busy sowing and growing pepper plants. Our last cooking day of the 2025 harvest was on Valentine’s Day! Talk about a hot date…

Of course, we can’t grow everything ourselves. We consciously choose partnerships that value sustainability and quality. For example, the exotic fruit comes from Southern Europe. Our supplier provides exclusively organic and biodynamic products from Mediterranean family farms. The fact that you know the first name of the grower and the variety of a particular citrus fruit is pure luxury. Meanwhile, there are also Yuzu plants in the field, for example, but they still need to grow a bit. Wild ingredients that we do not (yet) grow ourselves at Het Zonneveld come from Scandinavian primeval forests. And we apply this sustainable vision throughout the entire company.

Did you already have experience with growing fruit and vegetables and making sauces?

Bavo: Joris had been making fermented hot sauce as a hobby for a while under the name ‘Los Pikant’. We got to know each other (again) when, thanks to Het Zonneveld, I had about 85 different varieties of peppers. This resulted in a cross-pollination of cultivation and production techniques, but above all, in a renewed friendship. This led to the creation of our own collection of peppers that are both culinarily and climatically interesting to us.

Joris: I had about 20 pepper plants on my terrace in Antwerp and was very proud of them. Then I visited Bavo in the field and ended up in a veritable pepper jungle. It took us some time to make it official, but I think I already had a mental click that we had to do something with this together.

Where do you get the inspiration for your flavors?

Bavo: Peppers are incredibly rewarding to work with. Due to their high concentration of flavonoids (i.e., flavorings and antioxidants), each pepper has its own identity, its own flavor profile. We select pepper varieties based on their distinct aroma, which can vary greatly. You can compare it to wine or strongly scented herbs such as mint. For example, a pepper can have a fruity, fresh and sour palette with volatile citrus aromas, like a Chardonnay — or rather a spicy and intoxicating smoky palette, like Temperanillo. We take a specific pepper variety as a basis and build on this to create a sauce.

You work with very special ingredients, such as shiso, huacatay, and cedar lemon. Is that mainly to distinguish yourself from the rest, or do you see them as indispensable ingredients in certain flavor profiles?

Bavo: The micro-cultivation at Het Zonneveld with its own seed collection quickly attracted the attention of chefs. The field grew from a creative extravaganza into an open-air R&D facility. This automatically led me to niches in the culinary world, which was a real revelation. I started looking for strong sensory added value instead of yield. Herbs and fruits that were suitable for botanical distillates also ended up on our plate. And we choose them very consciously. Red shiso, for example, has a spicy flavor with notes of anise, cumin, and cinnamon. Something that goes very well with the heat of chili peppers.

Joris: What Bavo has achieved with the field in recent years is actually quite impressive. The abundance of color and flavor that you can find there in spring and summer is really worth it.

What are the most enjoyable ingredients to work with? Which ones have surprised you the most?

Bavo: Gosh, that’s a difficult question. Sea buckthorn is very high on my list. It has such a wonderful symbiosis with the Mexican habanero, as if they belong together by nature. When we cut the orange peppers, an intense exotic scent of mandarin and… sea buckthorn was released. Adding sea buckthorn further enhanced that typical habanero flavor. And the fact that sea buckthorn is also a native and wild superfood (read: vitamin C bomb) made it an ideal Wild Sauce Co ingredient. And now we’re taking it a step further: the field is not standing still and is evolving more and more into a natural habitat. We are discovering wild plants in the herb-rich grasslands and forest edges, and are looking for more edible plants in our own environment. “What grows together, goes together,” as they say in The Bear. Or in our words: the wilder, the better!

Joris: I’m a big fan of mushrooms. We put wild mushrooms in our Club Sauce and it was a huge success. We’ve taken it a step further this year, so they really come into their own. I’m also going to wholeheartedly follow Bavo’s lead, as sea buckthorn is a magical berry.

What is your favorite pepper and why?

Bavo: “Joris, (looking at his tattoo) that would be the Madame Jeanette for you, right?”

Joris: Without a doubt. For me, the Madame Jeanette has everything a pepper needs: lots of heat and a delicious fruity flavor. It also takes on the most amazing shapes. I couldn’t help but have such a work of art tattooed on my arm. Bavo will have to remain silent on this one. Choosing a favorite pepper is like choosing between his children for him. He has three sons. I suspect he has a favorite, but he would never admit it out loud, haha.

What spicy dish do you make best and everyone should try?

For this, I would like to refer to an adaptation of a delicious recipe that Nala came up with at Het Zonneveld. See the photo on the right above for the end result!

Mushroom Tacos (vegan)

Marinade

• 500 g thinly sliced mushrooms (any variety)
• 1 thinly sliced spring onion
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp 15 ml roasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp 30 ml Kiss My Nuts – Vermouth (alternative: mirin)
• 2 tbsp 30 ml Tomasu – Sweet Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp 30 ml Tomasu – Sweet & Spicy Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp 30 ml honey (alternative: maple syrup or agave syrup)
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• optional: 3 yuzu lime leaves

Sauté

• 1 onion – thinly sliced into half-moons
• Bunch of Swiss chard (alternative: spinach or bok choy)
• 1 tbsp 15 ml sesame oil
• optional: 3 mild green bell peppers

Garnish

• Yellow tomatillo (alternative: tomato)
• Spring onion
• Wild Sauce Co – Ginger Amarillo Hot Sauce
• Fried onion
• Bright pink pickled shallot rings
• Lime zest
• Fresh huacatay or cilantro leaves
• Corn tortillas

Instructions

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the sliced mushrooms to the marinade and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. After marinating the mushrooms, heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
4. Add some sesame oil and sauté the onion, green bell pepper, and finely chopped Swiss chard stems for one minute.
5. Add the mushrooms and marinade little by little and let it reduce and caramelize to a meaty texture.
6. Finely chop the Swiss chard and add it to the mixture.
7. Serve on a corn tortilla with the garnish and Wild Sauce Co hot sauce.

Now that Wild Sauce Co. is in our spotlight, that’s good news for you. Get all the sauces from this unique brand here for a week with a 20% discount.