South Devon Chilli Farm

Our Story

The South Devon Chilli Farm has a history spanning over 20 years; over this period of time, we’ve amassed vast experience and expertise in growing chillies and making delicious products from them. These days, we grow well over 100 varieties and harvest several tonnes of chillies each year here on our unique farm.

We are fiercely proud of our ‘Seed to Sauce’ principle, the tonnes of fresh chillies we nurture only need to travel a few metres across the farm into our kitchen, to be turned into our award-winning products – zero food miles here! We employ local people and pay fair wages, growing, processing and cooking only what we need to avoid waste.

We use natural predators to keep our chilli crops healthy, which means no pesticides or other harmful chemicals. Our products use vinegar or sugar as natural preservatives, which means nothing artificial there either and we make everything in small batches, cooked by hand by our kitchen team.

We are a SALSA approved food producer with full traceability across our entire range of products. Our entire range is produced using 100% renewable energy!

Challenges

Before partnering with Prima Yorks we used a handful of local suppliers. This presented us with a few issues; production capacity was limited & thus lead times were long, also the consultation process needed to be clearer as there were often teething problems causing delays with product launches.

In recent years we’ve definitely seen a shift from consumers, with a high demand for eco friendly packaging solutions so this was a priority for us. We also had a rebrand and moved away from most of the plain kraft packaging to litho printing so we could create more eye catching designs that would compliment our products.

As with any ecommerce store there is always the added challenge of creating something to withstand the courier networks so durability was also a key factor in all our designs.

Solutions

The consultation process with the Prima Yorks team was clear & constructive, we had some ideas which would have meant significant added cost so we worked with them to come up with more cost effective solutions.

A theme with a lot of our gifts is the open front to allow as much visibility of the jars/bottles as possible. Our followers are quite conscious consumers and like to be able to see the product and it’s contents, this presents a challenge to ensure goods are well protected for onward journeys but the team at Prima Yorks gave us some innovative solutions and we found suitable designs for both bottles & jars.

A common feature of our bottle gift packs is the base insert and clamp style insert for the bottle neck which is well disguised in all our designs. We decided to focus on displaying the individual products at the expense of a slight increase in production time due to the number of steps needed in the assembly process but we’re happy with the end result.

Our jar packs are a far more simple design with induvial windows for each jar which means these just need to be lined up during assembly before folding the top of box over and easily slotting into place. It’s small footprint ensures our storage space is maximised, which is particularly important during our peak periods.

Results

We’re lucky to have such a loyal fanbase and we’ve always received overwhelmingly positive reviews for our products, particularly our gift range. Since the rebrand it’s clear the effect the improved branding has had with a noticeable uptick in sales for our gift category.

We are pleased with the low number of damages we now receive with our products, often we’ve delayed launches to make some final adjustments if some of the team have spotted some weak points that could cause a problem. Spending the time to ensure you get the design right the first time is invaluable and we’ve definitely learnt the hard way over the years. By having reliable packaging it means the team spend far less time resolving complaints or sending refunds/replacements and our reputation remains as strong as ever by delivering quality products.

Working with us

We’ve maintained a very good relationship with the Prima Yorks (& now Duraweld) team over the years and they continue to be a key supplier of ours. The lines of communication have always been clear across all departments and the team have supported us with our packaging needs. We’re pleased that following the recent acquisition by Duraweld we’ve seen an improvement in lead times and we’re hopeful they’ll be more benefits that will bring.

Cost has obviously been a challenge following events over the past few years but we’re pleased Duraweld continue to be competitive and offer practical price breaks.

Products

Super Sauce Gift Pack

All three of our ‘Super’ chilli range, our hottest sauces to date in a great looking gift pack! If you know someone who loves really hot chillies, they’l

l love these sauces, just tell them to go steady when they try them until they know how much they need to reach the perfect heat! Packaged in pocket-sized bottles as you only need one drop for extreme heat. These extremely hot and fruity sauces are made with just fresh chillies (grown here on the farm), spirit vinegar and salt (no artificial additives or extracts).

“We recently had to iterate our Super Sauce Gift Pack due to supply issues forcing a change of bottle. The new bottle presented a challenge due to the height & diameter compared to the old bottle. We worked with the team at Duraweld and were able retain all the branding with the new pack as well as accommodating the new bottle and ensure the sauces were all housed securely with no movement or bottle-to-bottle contact. We’re delighted with the result and haven’t experienced any damages to date!”

Chilli Sauce Gift Pack (3 Bottle)

Our Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, Habanero Chilli Sauce and Smokey Chipotle Chilli Sauce in a rustic gift pack, printed with serving suggestions. Delicious sauces for the table and as ingredients – see individual product pages for more information. The gift pack is printed with ideas about how to use the sauces.

One of our best selling gift packs and always a popular choice at food festivals & xmas markets due to it’s useful handle design making it easy to carry. We wanted a design which allows us to include our distinctive branding as well as display our 3 sauces clearly to customers. The pack offers us a functional solution by securing the base of the bottles firmly with an insert for each bottle and also a discreet clamp style insert for the neck of the bottles to ensure no movement whilst maximising the display window. Bar a few artwork changes over the years this is still in its original form and one of our flagship gifts!

3 Preserve Gift Pack

Our three delicious preserves in a colourful gift pack; Chilli Jam, Chilli Chutney & Hot Apple Chilli Jelly. The perfect accompaniments to warm up a cheese board and equally good as side servings with hot or cold meats. See the individual product pages for more information.

Simple, practical & eye catching! Another of our best sellers and a very efficient design which maximises jar visibility but also allows for fast assembly. The compact construction means the product stores easily. A firm favourite among the production team!

Chilli Chocolate Cartons (All Flavours)

Our award-winning range of chilli chocolates, a delicious blend of dark, milk & white chocolates with our Devon grown chillies. These come in a colourful array of cardboard cartons.

We pivoted from our long standing film fronted range of chocolate packaging to a more eco friendly cardboard box. We discussed the possibility of a window to continue to display the chocolate bars but eventually decided to move to a full cardboard box, this allows us to create more impactful packaging and also better protect the chocolate whilst meeting consumer demand for more environmentally friendly packaging. Our trade customers have commented how well the cartons store on their shelves as well as the visual impact they have. Another great design from the Duraweld team!