Terrill Haigler and HotBox Philly released a mango habanero hot sauce on Friday. The sauce raises money for neighborhood cleanups across Philadelphia. Street Heat costs $10. You can buy it on the company’s website or at pop-up events around town.
Ten percent of what they make will go straight to Haigler’s group, Trash 2 Treasure, which funds cleanups and helps protect the environment in local neighborhoods. They want to sell 25,000 bottles by Earth Day on April 2. If they reach that number, they’ll throw a big cleanup event with a block party for the whole community.
Street Heat blends mangos, habaneros, tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, salt, garlic, and apple cider vinegar. It’s vegan. It’s also gluten-free.
Radhi Fernandez runs HotBox. He says the sauce gives you sweetness first, then a gentle heat that builds. “Not a challenging hot sauce,” he explains, according to PhillyVoice. His business focuses on taste instead of burning your mouth. He skips sugars, additives, and preservatives when making his products.
Haigler goes by Ya Fav Trashman on the internet. He used to work in sanitation. Now he runs cleanups and hauls away trash that people dump where they shouldn’t.
How did these two team up? Fernandez sent Haigler a message on LinkedIn thanking him for what he does. The next day, Haigler stood in his kitchen brainstorming hot sauce ideas with Fernandez.
Haigler and Fernandez will host pop-up events around the city and at Fernandez’s kitchen in Kensington when the new year starts. They’re selling the hot sauce as a way to “save a local business and raise money for a cleaner Philadelphia,” Haigler said.