Heatonist Founder on Building a Hot Sauce Empire
Noah Chaimberg, founder of Heatonist, detailed his journey from a Brooklyn push cart to creating the world's #1 hot sauce brand on Amazon. A key to his success was a strategic partnership with the viral YouTube show *Hot Ones*, which transformed the niche condiment into a cultural phenomenon.
Before founding Heatonist in 2013, Noah Chaimberg worked in digital marketing, but his passion for flavorful, small-batch hot sauces led him to start a curated collection from a pushcart at Brooklyn markets. He focused on sauces that prioritized unique tastes and high-quality, natural ingredients over extreme, purely sensational heat. The first Heatonist brick-and-mortar tasting room opened on Wythe Avenue in Brooklyn in 2015, the same year the pivotal partnership with *Hot Ones* began. The collaboration involves Heatonist curating the show's famous wing lineup and co-creating official *Hot Ones* sauces like "The Last Dab." The company has grown to include a second location in Manhattan's Chelsea Market and has become a major online retailer for hot sauce. As of early 2026, Heatonist employed 35 people and had an annual sales figure of $45 million for 2024. Beyond its collaboration with *Hot Ones*, Heatonist operates a popular monthly subscription box. For a recurring fee, subscribers receive a curated box of three hot sauces, often including new releases and limited editions from makers featured on the show. Heatonist has also expanded its physical retail presence significantly. Previously exclusive to its own stores and website, many *Hot Ones* branded sauces are now available in major grocery chains across the country, including Kroger, Publix, and Whole Foods. Looking ahead, Chaimberg is developing the HEATONIST Catskills Chili Farm. This "distributed agriculture project" aims to involve the community in growing peppers, with the goal of creating a hot sauce from the locally harvested chilis.
