COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JANUARY 2019 Big dreams for small pepper growers


Niche meal product targets adventure


tourism market


by PETER MITHAM COBBLE HILL – A slim sign marks the entrance to Fat Chili Farm, nestled on 3.5 acres of farmland at the south end of the Cowichan Valley. But the small enterprise,


which grew from a desire for hot peppers to spice up their home cooking, has led to a diverse farm-based business for Penny de Waal and Shani Farboud. “We were used to spicy


food and we couldn’t find any chili peppers here,” says de Waal. “So we started growing chilis. Our youngest son was 12 then, and he wanted to run a market stall. So he asked Shani to start making some stuff for him to start selling at the market stall. It was a hobby, really, on the back of his enthusiasm. And then people started buying it, and we started producing more and more, and it became a business.” Pepper production takes place in a simple 18x30 foot glass house as well as


preserves made in a small kitchen Farboud, a chef with three decades of experience, built next to the growing structures. “I’m more of a hobby


A taste for fresh chili peppers has morphed into a value-added agri-business. FAT CHILI PHOTO


farmer,” de Waal says. “We don’t sell volume because we use it all in making product and, to be honest, that’s what the business is. I have an increasing number of people wanting wholesale chilies, but we’re not professional. We grow what we need to make our products.” The products now number 30 and are sold under the Fat Chili name at the Duncan and Cedar farmers’ markets, with a limited volume available through Cow-Op, an online ordering platform set up by Cowichan Valley Co-operative Marketplace that allows consumers to buy direct from local growers. Scaling up to meet demand and broaden markets isn’t easy, however. Peppers may be in demand and people have proven willing to pay for a niche local product, but margins and


labour remain tight. “You can expand to an infinite number of farmers’ markets if you want to, but


two polytunnels 20x36 feet each. The three structures house 1,500 plants producing about 25 varieties of hot peppers, some of which are sold fresh. The majority, however, serve as the basis for more than 1,000 litres of sauces and


it’s very labour intensive,” de Waal explains. “It’s not particularly scale-up-able enough to let you hire someone to come in and sell for you. … A common challenge with a lot of local food producers here is how to make that leap from


See PEPPERS on next page o


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