Cork’s Rebel Chilli Company has found success in direct to consumer online sales since beginning selling on eBay Ireland last October.
Rebel Chilli was founded by Paul Moore in 2014 when he started experimenting with hot sauce recipes in his mother’s kitchen. Over years later, Rebel Chilli has grown to become a nationwide brand, sold in major retailers around the country.
Rebel Chilli joined eBay in Q4 2020 to increase brand exposure and reach new customers. Paul Moore commented: “The foodservices industry has been severely impacted by the pandemic, which has had a knock-on effect on our sales; we have essentially lost that side of the business since the restaurants were forced to shut. To counteract that and reach a new customer base, we decided to focus on online in order to maintain the business and sales.
“We have our own online store, but eBay has proven to be a valuable tool in complementing what we already have, as consumers often stumble upon the Rebel Chilli brand while browsing eBay for other goods. Being on ebay.ie has meant additional sales and our online presence is continually growing. We opened our eBay storefront in October, but we are already seeing positive results which we will be expanding on in the coming months.”
Speaking about the brand’s inception, Paul said: “Rebel Chilli’s beginnings came from a love of hot sauce and not being able to find any really good ones on the market. I was a student in UCC when I first started the business, studying Business Information Systems, but on my weekends, I would experiment in my mother’s kitchen trying to perfect the flavours of my hot sauce recipe. Not long after, I started selling the sauce at a local farmer’s market.”
“The brand has grown significantly since then and is now stocked in over 300 stores around Ireland. We supply both retail and the food service industry and have won multiple awards for our products, including a Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Award which we are very proud of.”
Rebel Chilli has seven products in its range all of which are created using natural ingredients that do not use any additives or preservatives. Rebel Chilli’s most popular products are Red Chilli sauce, Jalapeno and Raspberry jam and Barrel Aged Hot Sauce.
