Small businesses are often the lifeblood of their community. In this week’s Spotlight on Small Business, we shine the light on supertasterz, which is responsible for the creation of the well-known, professionally manufactured condiment, OPERA SAUCE Mediterranean Hot Sauce.
supertasterz is owned by husband and wife Jason and Elizabeth Cummings. Jason Cummings shared that he is a foodie by nature.
“By way of background — I’m a food person. When I was 21, my friends and I opened a pasta company in the River Market. I went to culinary school for a while. For 10 years, I developed recipes for some of the largest food manufacturers in the world and sold their products to restaurants,” Cummings said. “The restaurant industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, and I was downsized. Around that time, a cook friend of mine recommended that I start a hot sauce. I was dismissive at first because, having sold hot sauces, I knew you had to have a niche. But then I started looking for a niche and realized there really wasn’t a go-to hot sauce for pizza and Mediterranean food. It took over a year to develop OPERA SAUCE Mediterranean Hot Sauce and bring it to market. We launched in June of 2022.”
The OPERA SAUCE label is a nod to its cultural origin, representing an aerial view of the Mediterranean Sea — the blue is deep water; the green is shallow water.
Cummings shared what his day-to-day schedule looks like as a small business owner.
“Most days, I start with social media management and engagement. The rest of the day is spent on some combination of customer and market development, product development and content creation,” he said. “My wife Elizabeth co-owns the business with me and handles a lot of the back office operations.”
Cummings shared some exciting new updates just around the corner.
“We’re excited to be coming out with a new hot sauce later this year. It’s more of a classic hot sauce. Over the course of launching and selling OPERA SAUCE over the last year, we’ve gotten a lot of feedback from people on what they want, and we think our next product encompasses those demands,” Cummings said.
But as every small business owner knows, the path to success doesn’t come without challenges.
“Some people and restaurants are resistant to change. It’s been a challenge to get people to try something new that’s out of their comfort zone,” Cummings said.
Fortunately, though, supertasterz has seen plenty of success since its inception.
“We were fortunate to enter OPERA SAUCE in the 2023 Drunken Tomato Awards. The Drunken Tomato Awards is an international bloody mary competition held in San Diego that utilizes a blind taste-testing environment to judge bloody mary mixes and accoutrements. OPERA SAUCE won a platinum medal, the Awards’ highest rating, in the hot sauce category,” Cummings said. “We were honored, too, to be part of the International Greek Food Festival here in Little Rock . . . That’s exactly the kind of food OPERA SAUCE was made for! We are proud to have a product that creates revenue for dozens of Arkansas businesses and helps support their employees.”
Cummings offered some advice to aspiring small business owners.
“Be patient. When you work with other people (suppliers, vendors, etc.), things will take much longer than you think they will, so start sooner,” Cummings said. “Also, it’s important to not look at selling as selling. Selling is measured in wins and losses and can be painful. Look at what you do as sharing your product with someone. When you have something great to share with someone, you never lose. Another thing to remember is that your competition isn’t your enemy; they’re your opportunity to observe, learn and improve.”
Lastly, Cummings shared some of the life lessons that he has learned as a small business owner.
“Again, be patient. Also, don’t think in extremes,” Cummings said.
