Peppers Unlimited combines 100 years of heritage with the latest production capabilities.
Hot sauce has been a family affair for the Bulliard family of Louisiana for more than 100 years and four generations, and that dedication shows through in every bottle of sauce produced by Peppers Unlimited of Louisiana Inc. Although the company was founded in 1993, it draws upon the long traditions established by the Bulliard family and its heritage in the business. “When we say we know peppers, we mean it,” the company says. “Edmond and Louise Bulliard produced and bottled the first commercially sold cayenne pepper sauce in 1910, and we’ve been packing peppers ever since.”
Based in St. Martinville, La., Peppers Unlimited serves more than 1,000 clients around the world with hot sauce as well as steak sauces, marinades, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce, barbecue sauces and chicken wing sauces. The company’s products are bottled for customers in retail, foodservice and industrial channels, and the variety Peppers Unlimited offers makes it a popular choice in the United States and elsewhere. “[We are] the second biggest producer in the market, and the fastest growing – we’re the business you know by flavor, not name,” the company says. “Only 25 percent of our bottled product carries the Bulliard brand, but we guarantee you know our customers well. National retail brands, top restaurant chains, hospitals, schools, military and prisons worldwide rely on our customized sauces to spice up their food and heat up their sales.”
In every type of product it makes, Peppers Unlimited says the careful attention to detail and heritage of the Bulliard family can be found in each bottle. “Delivering something different for everyone, we use only top grade ingredients to produce superior products with a level of expertise and experience perfected over a century,” the company says. “Renowned for our blending prowess, we’ll meet or beat the competitor’s best. Add our family-style service, on-time delivery, rapid reaction time, and no-fail product consistency, and you know why our customers keep coming back.”
Strong Capabilities
Peppers Unlimited complements its history and heritage with some of the most modern production capabilities in the industry. “In 1993, we opened our doors with 17 employees in 10,000 square feet,” the company says. “Growing 15 to 20 percent a year for 15 years straight, we now employ just fewer than 100 members of the St. Martinville community in the industry’s second-largest and most modern production facility. Our 200,000-square-foot manufacturing plant boasts four processing rooms and five high-tech fill lines capable of bottling 250-400 bottles per minute. Designed by Vice President John Bulliard, and hand-fabricated onsite, our bottling lines can be modified on demand to handle any size and shape bottle. For our bulk sauce customers, we’re set up to fill 5,500-gallon tankers right on premise, as well as load drums and totes for transport in dry vans and refrigerated trucks.”
The company says its facility has the capacity to produce more than 100,000 gallons of sauce per day, and it manufactures approximately 1 million gallons every month. The company says it caps about 100 million bottles annually, and its facilities give it the capacity to double its production. “We named ourselves Peppers Unlimited for our limitless capacity and customization potential,” the company says. “We can turn [an] order around with just two weeks’ notice.”
The company adds that it can provide customers with sauces made exactly to their specifications, and its ability to develop unique, high-quality sauces helps set it apart. “Made to order, our succulent sauces make meals memorable and sales hot,” the company says. “Hot shots in hot sauce, our dedicated team of food scientists and technicians will meet or beat any national brand’s quality, consistency and taste profile. We currently blend hundreds of distinct recipes for dozens of different products.
“No two peppers are the same, so with each batch of sauce our specialists must adjust their formula to compensate for Mother Nature’s variation,” the company continues. “Since our trademark consistency defines our success, we double-check every batch of finished sauce. First our lab tests that the total solids, PH, acidity, sodium and viscosity meet formula specifications, and then a member of the Bulliard family tastes and approves the product for flavor and merit.”
Family Ties
Along with the company’s technical strengths, Peppers Unlimited says its family ties also serve to set the company apart from the competition in a big way. “Genuine pride, community loyalty and hands-on family management, allow us to deliver quality from the ground up with careful cost control. The second largest purchaser of cayenne peppers in the Americas, we’ve worked with the same growers for over 40 years. Our in-house machine shop and family talent mean we modify and modernize our bottling lines annually, designing exactly what we need to guarantee expert material handling, detail to packaging and on-time delivery – every time.
“One hundred years in the making, Peppers Unlimited preserves more than peppers,” the company continues. “The living legacy of our family, the town of St. Martinville and our Acadian heritage, we blend Cajun hard work with joie de vivre in every product we ship.”