HOT, HOT HUNT Dale Hunt, alongside his wife Athena, took home three titles from the 2015 Scovie Awards with his valley-based hot sauce product, Kootenay Bayou. Photo by Dan Walton
Kootenay Bayou turned up the heat in the southern USA, where they won three awards at the annual Scovie Awards.
The Scovie Awards are like the Academy Awards of hot sauce, said Kootenay Bayou Voodoo Habanera Hot Sauce founder Dale Hunt.
Upon entering the Roasted Red X flavour into the 2015 Scovie Awards (theyre awarded a year in advance) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dale won first place in both the habanero hot sauce and Louisiana style hot sauce categories, and second place in the medium heat category.
This was the first, and probably the only year, Kootenay Bayou will be featured at the Scovie Awards, Dale said.
Ive always wanted to enter a competition just to sort of prove it to myself.
With a total of 970 submissions competing in three categories, Kootenay Bayou was one of 154 companies. Judging was based upon extensive criteria and blind taste testing.
Dale was inspired to enter the awards after friends of his from Florida tasted the sauce. He felt their positive feedback was indicative of Kootenay Bayous capability.
Hes like, I love this, and I realized it was standing up in the south.
There are categories open for spicier sauces at the Scovie Awards, though Kootenay Bayou doesnt aim to be the hottest.
I refer to our hot sauce as non-violent, user friendly. Its not ever anything youll wish youd never done, he said. Youre going to be competing against real hot stuff down there, thats why I entered it in just medium heat.
Kootenay Bayou also features two other flavours which werent entered Roasted Red Hot and Kiwi Tsunami. And alongside Dales impressive recipe, the products packaging also grabbed the judges attention.
The design is very striking and attention-getting, and the use of colours is excellent, reads a statement from the judges. One wouldnt think that a dark label would work against a dark background, but with clever shading, it looks great. Dont change anything!
Dale said a new emblem will soon be incorporated into the label to recognize its success at the Scovie Awards as Kootenay Bayou continues to expand its distribution in its fourth year on the market. To learn more about the sauce and where to find it or to check out Kootenay Bayous rock-and-roll promo video visit their website at www.kootenaybayou.com.
