Milton hot sauce company, MF Heat Co., is celebrating one year of making and selling flavorful sauces for local heat seekers. After 12 months of cooking, selling, and slinging samples at farmers markets, the three co-owners of southern Delaware's only fermented hot sauce company are reflecting back on the ups and downs of owning a small business.
“We’ve come a long way since last year. It’s taken a lot of trial and error to navigate through operating a business that is also just a really fun side gig for us,” said Tim Auman who co-owns and handles the marketing and sales side of the business. MF Heat Co. began their culinary journey well before their first cook in 2023 in the Sussex Kitchen Incubator in Georgetown. What began as a fun passion project among friends in 2020 became a slow but steady march towards being a small Delaware business.
Although they mostly reflect positively on their past year, it did bring its share of challenges. Mike Frank, head chef and co-owner, often felt like giving up before they even got the business off the ground. “Working to get approval at a state level was tough because no one has really done what we were trying to do. But that drove us to keep going and push through the paperwork with a sort of malicious compliance mentality about it all,” he said. “When people get to try our sauces and the recipes I created, and they tell me how much they love the flavor and heat, it makes it all worthwhile.”
“The thing that I think most people tend to gravitate toward is the fact that we’re local and part of the community,” says co-owner Emily Frank. To drive that point home, MF Heat Co. makes sure that any customer buying from their website with a Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Milton, or Georgetown zip code doesn’t pay a cent for shipping. Orders are dropped off straight to their porches personally by Emily. For them the idea of community is even greater than free local delivery, it’s utilizing the Milton Farmers and Artisan Market as their selling “home base” and appearing on local podcasts like The 302 Podcast to talk about owning a small Delaware business.
What’s next for MF Heat Co.? They have even more collaborations, festivals, markets, and experiences in store for next year. “The best part to me has really been interacting with customers and fans at markets and events. We love telling our story and getting a chance to receive feedback live, as people sample our sauces,” says Tim. This personal touch, Mike and Tim are often found at events surrounded by curious customers at their table, has helped them find a niche in the crowded farmers market spaces in Southern Delaware. With future collaborations on the horizon, such as sauce, wing, and beer pairings at Dogfish Head’s Milton Brewery, new festivals in Maryland, and joining an already vibrant food event scene in Rehoboth, MF Heat Co. seems to be burning bright as they move into their second year of business.
