Meet Curtis Bell of MisoHot in Greenwood Village

Today we’d like to introduce you to Curtis Bell.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Curtis. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
MisoHot came to be almost by accident. In January 2019, I was catering to a post-holiday party for a long-time client. He always gives me full creative freedom over the menu, and I try to pull from different inspiration each year. In 2018, I spent a month in Japan, so I made an interactive ramen bar the focal point of the year’s party. The key component was a spicy chili paste, which is a common accompaniment on bowls of ramen. Using some knowledge of what is sometimes in these pastes and some guidance from a good friend, I took a stab at creating something with ingredients I had on hand in my kitchen.

The result was something that which became wildly popular at the party, to where the host mentioned that if I ever put this stuff into jars, he would buy it by the case. About six months later, I tried to recreate what I had made previously. I brought some to a few friends to taste and soon realized that this stuff is a serious hit. So I hit the ground running and had the company fully commercially launched by the beginning of December that same year. We are still young, I would say, in the early adopter phase, really. But growth is coming, and we couldn’t be more excited for what the future holds!

Has it been a smooth road?
No road to entrepreneurship is smooth. This one in particular I have mostly paved on my own, and at the fastest pace possible. I wanted to consult in everyone possible and avoid as many mistakes as I could, but there are always hiccups. As a chef, I know food well, and personally I love the science of food. For commercializing a shelf-stable product, there are a lot of hurdles to jump. I had to take a college course and refine the recipe about 20 times before I could send it off to a lab for testing.

I am honestly surprised that there weren’t any problems in that part of the process. It was just meticulous. Overall, I would say that the bumps in the road mostly pertain to learning a new side to food that I haven’t had a lot of exposure to. Retail sales of a food product are a far cry from working in restaurants and cooking in people’s homes. I haven’t faced half of the troubles I know I will, but I will look forward to overcoming each of them.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the MisoHot story. Tell us more about the business.
MisoHot is a miso-based chili paste. Most chili pastes and other spicy condiments are vinegar, tomato or oil-based, etc.. As far as I have been able to find, we are one of the few spicy condiments in the game using miso paste as the base for our product. This gives MisoHot its signature flavor, which is a serious punch of umami and a beautiful balance of roasted peppers. The combination of incredible flavor and a nice level of heat makes the product truly unique.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think the spicy food industry will continue to evolve and tons of new products will come onto the market. During the next 5-10 years, I hope that MisoHot will rise above the pack and become a household name… akin to that sauce with the rooster on it, but better. As far as trends go, I feel like miso is on the rise and hasn’t come remotely close to its peak. People are loving gut health and fermented foods. And guess what? Miso is fermented!

Our first retail locations to purchase MisoHot in the Denver area! They are Leevers Locavore, Northside Market and Eatery, and within the Element Knife Company space at The Broadway Market.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.MisoHot.co
• Email: misohotpaste@gmail.com
• Instagram: @misohotofficial

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