Sauce is often a big deal when it comes to food. It serves as a key component that binds the flavour of the dish, and enhances the visual appearance.
This is the exact reason why Dubai entrepreneur Faisal Al Mutairi felt the need to start House of Habanero. A new addition to Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue, Habanero is located on the left of the main entrance, in a small kiosk opposite 1004 Gourmet, on the same avenue as CarniStore and Growhouse. The dedicated speciality retailer houses more than 1,000 bottles of spicy sauce.
Connector caught up with Faisal Al Mutairi, also known as the chief chilli officer, to talk about the inspiration behind the venture and how his love of spice turned into a business.
Born to a Saudi father and an American mother, and raised in Bahrain, Faisal was surrounded from an early age by food, family and bold flavours. Long before he became an entrepreneur, chilli was already part of everyday life. “My earliest food memory is eating shatta with my family,” he said, referring to the fiery chilli paste found in many Arab households. That flavour stayed with Faisal.
Before House of Habanero was born, Faisal worked in large-scale events management and operations for nearly 20 years. His work involved everything from Formula One bookings to international art biennales and complex corporate events, but sauces remained a personal passion throughout.
Faisal always wanted to start something of his own and a trip to New Orleans about 10 years ago served as the perfect inspiration.
“We visited a shop called Pepper Palace, a shop filled with hundreds of hot sauces that you could taste, and I was blown away. I was always a big chilli and sauce lover, so this was my heaven and I knew then I had to do something like it. Later, when my wife, Katy, who is House of Habanero’s Chief Creative Officer, was pregnant with our second kid, we wanted to quit our corporate jobs and start something of our own. The timing was right and we saw a gap in the UAE market for something like Pepper Palace, although ours is a different concept.”
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Faisal said he always loved sauces and his fridge has always been packed with sauces that the couple picked up on travels. However, they never really liked much of what there is to offer on the UAE’s supermarket shelves. That’s where they saw the gap.
The business officially launched online in September 2024, after the couple secured their trade licence the year before. More recently, they opened their physical store on 8 March. Faisal admitted they were apprehensive about launching at a time when geopolitical tensions were at its peak, but said the response so far has been very encouraging.
“We were apprehensive about opening then, but so far we have had a great response. The main challenge we had with opening at this time is stock issues as a lot of the business relies on imports and shipping costs have gone way up. However, we didn't consider delaying because we had already signed the contract and paid the rent before everything kicked off. And of course, we didn't want to lose our spot in Alserkal. It was now or never,” Faisal said.
Faisal spent months researching and tasting, probably 800 to 900 samples before deciding what to import. House of Habanero officially launched online in September 2024, after securing its trade licence the year before. Over time, that ritual grew into a collection shaped by years of travel, experimentation and tasting. Sauces were bought, opened, compared and often kept for future reference.
While starting a business in the UAE is relatively easy, but food import is challenging. “There are lots of steps and processes in getting each individual sauce imported and we make sure we only bring in sauces that you can’t find anywhere else and have never been available in the UAE before. Cash flow is also a challenge, especially as this is a 100% self-funded venture”, Faisal shared.
The main challenge the couple is facing now is the rise in shipping and import costs, as well as the delays that come with them. “We’re hoping it won’t have too much of a knock-on effect on our customers and we can absorb most of the costs, but we will have to see how it all plays out.”
Challenges aside, the store offers an experience unlike any other. House of Habanero is more than just a shop for hot sauce. “Anyone can come to our ‘tasting room’ and try as many of the sauces, chilli oils and other products as they like. They can also choose their favourites before leaving with something they love. We stock many products, not only hot sauces, but everything has at least a little bit of chilli in it, from the oils to the jams and the nachos. We also have some incredible locally produced candied jalapenos!”
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The store gets its produce from across the world. “We have a decent selection of locally produced products and they’re the first thing you see when you come into the tasting room. We also have sauces and other products from 28 countries around the world, from the US to Australia and Amsterdam,” Faisal said.
For now, the couple is focusing on making the tasting room a great experience for their customers. They have also launched a loyalty programme, so customers can collect ‘chillies’ and earn rewards. A subscription package that allows customers to get different sauces delivered to their doorstep on a regular basis is also on the cards.
“Ultimately, we also want to create our own line of products, as well as open tasting rooms across the UAE and rest of the GCC”, Faisal said.