Chillis Galore: Keepin' Norfolk Spicy Since 1999!

One thing (out of a long list of reasons!) I love about the abundance of independent businesses across Norfolk is the personal connections they create with so many people.

Whether you always visit your local farm shop to pick strawberries every summer, take a trip to your local florist for every special occasion, or use a local cheese as a secret ingredient in a family recipe, each business means something different to everyone.

In a world that is growing increasingly digital, this personal connection and relationship is invaluable.

One incredible story that captures the beautiful atmosphere and joy Norfolk businesses bring to many is Chillis Galore.

Growing up, the Habanero Chilli Jam was a staple in Max’s home. His grandmother, Marita, was one of the first customers Kathy and Richard (the Founders of Chillis Galore) had after launching in 1999.

After Marita sadly passed away, Sonya and Max stumbled upon a jar of their favourite Habanero Chilli Jam and wanted to find where he could buy another. Chance would have it that, at the same time, Kathy and Richard was looking for someone to continue their legacy.

Now, Sonya and Max have taken over Chillis Galore, helping to keep Norfolk spicy and elevate your food!

When did Chillis Galore begin? How did it feel to take on the business after having the product as a family staple growing up?

Chillis Galore was founded in Norfolk in 1999 by Kathy and Richard, a couple with a passion for growing chillis and turning them into moreish condiments.

Over the next 26 years, they built the business and the Chillis Galore community, winning awards at shows and farmers markets for their delicious, homemade chilli jams, hot sauces and relishes.

Today, Chillis Galore has been taken on by us, Max and Sonya. The brand already had a very personal connection to Max’s family long before we took it over. If you haven’t heard our story before, here goes:

As a child in North Norfolk, Max grew up eating the Habanero Chilli Jam, as his grandmother Marita was one of Kathy and Richard’s very first customers back in the early 2000’s. When Marita passed away, Max’s mum Michèle carried on the tradition, always making sure there was a jar of Chillis Galore on the table when he came home to visit from uni. When Sonya met Michèle for the first (and what would ultimately be the only) time, she had a jar waiting for them. Sonya had never tried chilli jam before and instantly loved it. Sadly, Michèle passed away soon afterwards on Christmas Eve.

After Michèle's passing, we moved into her house in Kelling for awhile to sort out her affairs. While there, we tried to buy their favourite chilli jam for ourselves, but somehow we couldn't find it on shelves anywhere. Several months later, while cleaning out the car ahead of Michèle's memorial service to drive people to the church, Max found that same jar she'd last gifted us buried deep in the boot.

Of course, we immediately jumped online to try and order some (we really needed a pick-me-up that day)...and discovered that after 26 years, Kathy and Richard were looking for someone to carry on their legacy so they could hang up their chilli hats and enjoy retirement. The rest is history!

That story still gives us shivers every time we tell it and is why taking on Chillis Galore never felt like simply buying a business. It felt like continuing something that had a strong personal meaning and history for us. We feel a huge sense of responsibility to protect what people already loved about the products and the brand while bringing fresh energy and ideas into its next chapter.

What did you love most about working with Kathy to take on the business (learning the recipes, etc)?

We had so much fun during our intensive cooking sessions with Kathy learning the secrets behind Chillis Galore. We even set up a little tripod camera stand to film everything so we could go back and study all the tips and tricks she mentioned along the way. We obviously can’t reveal any secrets, but after more than 26 years of making these products, you can imagine that Kathy had developed plenty of magic touches that you’d never get from in a recipe alone.

We have very fond memories from those days cooking together in Kathy’s sunny, garden-facing kitchen — tasting batches, chatting, and hearing all the stories behind the nearly three decades of business. It never felt transactional; it genuinely felt like being welcomed into something with a lot of history and care behind it.

We’re also really grateful that we still have such a lovely relationship with Kathy and Richard now. We even have a little Chillis Galore group chat where we keep them updated on all the latest exciting developments, so it really does feel like they’re still part of the journey.

What products do you offer (chilli jams, relishes and hot sauces)?

How can Chillis Galore help to transform your cooking/ food?

We are currently producing eight different products of three chilli jams, one relish, and four hot sauces:

• Chilli Jams
• Jalapeno, Coriander and Lime (Mild, fresh, bright & punchy)
• Chipotle Smokey (Medium-Hot, for the smoke lovers)
• Habanero (Medium-Hot, our signature chilli jam, impossible not to love!)
• Relish
• Chilli Jammy Relish (Medium, a sweet onion relish that’s a real crowd-pleaser)
• Hot Sauces
• Fruity Caribbean (Mild, pineapple & mixed fruit sweet chilli sauce, perfect for glazing and dipping)
• Mango-Habanero (Medium-Hot, gorgeously yellow with rich mango and hot habs)
• Peach-Habanero (Medium-Hot, peach-forward with a real kick)
• Smokey Naga (Hot, not for beginners but an incredible, full-bodied smokey hotness with a slow burn)

We also have several unreleased recipes which are waiting for their moment to shine, and several growers working on some spicy peppers for us!

We always describe our products to people as “table condiments”; we’re not chasing world-record Scoville numbers–we’re making the jars that you will actually finish. All of our products are designed to excite your meal, not annihilate your taste buds!

Describe the process of creating your incredible products (and how important is the fact that are all produced in small batches?)!

Every product is made in small batches in our commercial kitchen by our close-knit team of chefs, all of whom we have trained ourselves, and that family feeling runs through the whole business. Many jam and sauce brands eventually move to using co-packers, where somebody else produces the recipes for them, but for us, keeping control of the process is a huge part of what makes Chillis Galore special, and it’s not something we’re interested in giving up. We want to stay directly connected to the products and the people making them.

The process itself is detailed and relies heavily on experience: carefully preparing ingredients, tasting throughout the process, and knowing exactly how to balance sweetness with heat. Producing in small batches allows us to give every jar the attention it deserves rather than focusing purely on volume.

Our products are artisanal and premium, and we believe the care and pride of our team comes through in the final result. We genuinely think people can taste the difference when something has been made thoughtfully by real people rather than simply mass manufactured.

How important is it for you to collaborate with local creatives across the business (illustrators, graphic designers and web designers)?

Extremely important. Max’s late mum was a Norfolk-based artist, so when we started thinking about redesigning the labels, it felt natural to look for creatives from Norfolk too. We were absolutely thrilled when Kate Read — an award-winning children’s author and illustrator based in Aylsham — agreed to work with us.

Max is a cinematographer so as Chillis Galore’s art director, he really cares about colour, texture and visual storytelling, and Kate immediately understood the playful, vibrant world we wanted Chillis Galore to have. Her work has so much warmth and personality to it.

It was also of the utmost important to us that the redesign felt genuinely handmade and human, kind of like our own little AI rebellion. Kate creates her illustrations using hand-painted and mono-printed paper collage before finishing them digitally, so there’s real texture and craft in the artwork… which feels very connected to how we make the products themselves!

What makes Chillis Galore unique?

What makes Chillis Galore unique is that we’ve been doing this for a very long time, and doing it differently from the beginning. Founded in 1999, Chillis Galore was one of the first chilli jam brands in the UK and is proudly known as Norfolk’s original chilli jam company. At a time when much of England still thought black pepper was adventurous, Kathy and Richard were introducing people to a variety of chilli products packed with real flavour.

We also believe Chillis Galore was the first brand in the UK to produce and widely distribute habanero and scotch bonnet chilli jam. Long before chilli sauces and spicy condiments became mainstream, Chillis Galore had already built a loyal following of people who wanted spice that actually tasted good and could be used at every meal.

What still sets our products apart today is that they sit somewhere between a jam, relish and hot sauce. They’re flavour-first condiments designed to elevate food rather than overpower it — products you genuinely keep on the table and reach for constantly. Combined with the small-batch production, Norfolk roots and the very personal story behind the business, we are extremely proud that Chillis Galore has a warmth and authenticity that feels increasingly rare.

The food and drink community across Norfolk continues to grow by the day. What do you love most about being part of this local community (and why should the local independent food and drink scene continue to be celebrated)?

In Norfolk and East Anglia in general, people have a real sense of pride in making things properly. There’s a strong independent spirit here, and an appreciation for craftsmanship, quality ingredients and businesses with personality and history behind them.

East Anglia also has a deep agricultural heritage. The rich soil and surrounding farmland mean there’s an amazing culture of growing and producing food, and we’re really excited to now be working with an East Anglian chilli grower as part of the next chapter. Being able to build relationships with regional growers feels very special to us.

Independent food and drink businesses should continue to be celebrated because they bring creativity, character and identity to a place in a way large chains simply can’t. They keep regional traditions alive while also constantly innovating and creating new ideas. So many of the best food experiences come from small producers who genuinely care about what they make, and we feel very proud to be part of that community.

How important is it for you to attend markets (connecting with local businesses, etc)?

Markets are hugely important to us because so much of our brand is built on authentic human connection. We’re both very social, people-oriented personalities, and one of our favourite parts of the business is chatting with customers face-to-face, hearing what products they love and how they’re using their Chillis Galore products.

We also genuinely love the sense of community that comes with markets. You build real friendships with other independent businesses, and there’s a lovely culture of people helping each other out, sharing advice and supporting one another. It never feels purely transactional.

Markets have also been such a human and organic way for us to grow the brand into new places and cities. Rather than simply appearing on a shelf somewhere, we get to personally introduce people to Chillis Galore, tell the story behind it and watch people discover our products for the first time. That direct connection is incredibly important to us and something we never want to lose as the business grows.

What is your vision for the future of Chillis Galore?

Our plan is to grow Chillis Galore into a globally recognised British condiment brand while still protecting the warmth, personality and small-batch spirit that made people fall in love with it in the first place.

Chilli jam is an incredibly exciting category as it’s uniquely British (very countryside kitchen, cheeseboard, cottagecore) but at the same time it appeals to a huge range of palates. Sweetness and spice is such a universal combination. We meet customers from all over the world at markets who tell us how well Chillis Galore would do in their home countries and insist that we hurry up and start distributing internationally.

As Norfolk’s original chilli jam brand, we feel we have a unique opportunity to bring chilli jam from the British countryside to a much wider global audience. At the same time, it’s incredibly important to us that the business never loses its personality or becomes faceless. We want Chillis Galore to keep feeling warm, creative and genuinely human no matter how much it grows, and of course, to be proudly Norfolk no matter how far we go!

To keep up to date with the incredible work of Chillis Galore, you can head to their Instagram (@chillisgalore!)