.nl in the spotlight: heatsupply.nl

What made you want your own business?

"My father has had his own business since he was twenty, when he set himself up as a tomato grower. So you could say enterprise runs in the family," says Freek. "I did Business Management Studies at the University of Twente. After that, I really wanted to start my own business. My first venture with Stan was an online football magazine, which was soon attracting a lot of traffic. But we stopped that in the end, so we could focus completely on heatsupply.nl."

Where did you get the idea for the webshop?

"Heatsupply was born out of our love for spicy food. Stan and I both picked up the taste for exotic spices when we were travelling abroad. When we got back, we started trying more and more different spicy dishes. And we noticed that we weren't the only ones. The idea of creating the webshop ultimately came from watching the YouTube show Hot Ones. I would watch an episode, and then try to get hold of the sauces I needed to cook the featured dish. Only to discover that they weren't available in Europe. That led to the idea of importing them and selling them via a webshop. We opted for an English-language .nl domain name to appeal to people in other countries as well. You can browse the site in Dutch or English."

How was the webshop built?

"I didn't have any experience of webshop building. But, by watching lots of YouTube tutorials, I was able to create a webshop using WordPress. Setting up the shop was a leap of faith, really. But it was soon clear from the flow of orders that there's a lot of demand in the Netherlands for exclusive hot sauces. We import our products from the US and Canada, and we sample everything ourselves. If a sauce doesn't sell well, we replace it with a better product of the same type. So we've always got a quality product range. Towards the end of 2018, we also launched our own brand, Raijmakers Heetmakers, which has its own dedicated .com website. We went for .com because we're aiming for the European market, rather than the Dutch market. For the same reason, it's an English-language website."

What's your mission with heatsupply.nl?

"We want to show people what hot sauces have to offer. They make meals tastier, more exciting and more full-flavoured. And there's a hot sauce to suit everyone. Whether you're the type who thinks the hotter the better, or you like milder flavours. Fancy a surprise every 2 months? Then you can take out a subscription, and every second month we'll send you a taster pack. Each pack has 3 sauces, 2 of which aren't yet available from our webshop."

What are your personal favourites?

"My absolute favourite is one of our own: Raijmakers Heetmakers with chipotle, whiskey and habanero. It's sweet and smoky, but nice and spicy too. I'm also a fan of the New York brand Queen Majesty. I always enjoy their sauces. Another favourite is a sauce by the Canadian company Heatbeat, which is made with gherkins, serrano peppers and dill. That might sound like a strange combination, but it tastes great."

Are there any developments in the pipeline?

"We're currently working with a web developer on an upgrade to the shop. The redesigned site will have various new functionalities. We're also developing a sauce selection tool to help visitors choose a product that suits them. The user will be asked maybe 5 questions, and the tool will use their answers to suggest something suitable. We should be able to go live with the new webshop next month. We also plan to focus more on building valuable partnerships, using our existing link with YouTuber Nick from the EtenmetNick channel as a template. He's got more than 170,000 YouTube subscribers and often shares new recipes. Once a month, he uses one of our hot sauces in a recipe. The collaboration has raised the profile of heatsupply.nl, and introduced people to our products."

What about the future?

"We've already got a solid client base in the Netherlands and countries such as Germany and Belgium. In the years ahead, we want to raise our profile further, at home and across Europe. Our ultimate aim is to introduce as many people as possible to hot sauces. Another thing we want to do is get into the business market. So, for example, we're developing a range of white-label sauces, which shops and restaurants can put their own names on. By rolling out strategies like that, we intend to maintain our position as the leading online seller of exclusive hot sauces."