Wellington residents Stacey and Bruce Ollis of Brucesghostpepperz.com are being considered along with thousands of applicants nationwide for the opportunity to be awarded a small business grant offered by Chase and Living Social to help local, small businesses like theirs get off the ground.
Brucesghostpepperz.com is a unique family business that sells homegrown ghost pepper plants and seeds as well as other hot chili pepper cottage foods (including Bruce’s Make-it-Yourself Hot Sauce, Bloody Mary mix, spicy salad dressing and bread dip mixes, southern rub, pepper curry powder, guacamole and dip mixes, and freshly ground hot pepper spices) at the Wellington Green Market and other local venues. It also offers custom gift packages and baskets for holidays and other special events.
Bhut jolokia (a.k.a. the ghost pepper) has been around for many centuries and is believed to have originated in India. The word bhut means “ghost” and was likely given the name because of how the heat sneaks up on you. In 2007, the ghost pepper was certified as the World’s Hottest Chili Pepper in the Guinness Book of World Records. Hot peppers belong to the genus capsicum and are native to the tropical Americas.
While people often shy away from these brightly colored, pungent fruits, eating hot peppers is actually quite beneficial and offers a long list of natural health benefits such as pain relief, anti-inflammatory, migraine prevention and heart-health properties.
Voting for the competition is underway throughout June, with each applicant needing at least 250 votes to qualify for the next round of review by an expert business panel. To vote, visit www.missionsmallbusiness.com, select the Facebook log-in and then enter “brucesghostpepperz.com” (Wellington) to cast your vote in support of this local small business. More information is also available at www.brucesghostpepperz.com.
Shown Above: Bruce Ollis at the Wellington Green Market.
