MOU signed for launch of Bahamian Heat pepper sauce brand
15 Oct 2025
The partnership moves us from dependence to innovation
The Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) and Canada-based manufacturing company Ontario Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) yesterday to launch a line of Red Scotch Bonnet pepper products under the Bahamian Heat brand.
Jomo Campbell, minister of agriculture and marine resources, said the launch is a bold step forward in transforming Bahamian agriculture.
“This MOU between the BAIC, Ontario Inc and Mr. Preston Drummond, marks the birth of Bahamian Heat, a line of premium hot sauces and consumer products that will take the flavors of our islands far beyond our shores.”
Ontario Inc. is a manufacturing and branding company out of Ontario, Canada, which distributes the Chetty’s Hot Sauce brand. Chetty’s was represented yesterday at the MOU signing event by its owner, Chris Chetty, who along with Preston Drummond, an American businessman living in Andros, decided to use Bahamian Red Scotch Bonnet pepper for Chetty’s hot sauces.
Campbell added: “This is a powerful union. On the one side Bahamian farmers, producing world-class peppers; our iconic Red Scotch Bonnet pepper, known as goat pepper; and on the other side Ontario Inc., with decades of expertise in manufacturing, branding and global distribution.
“This partnership is not just about hot sauce. It is about transformation. Moving from dependence to innovation, from local stalls to global supermarkets. It is about foreign exchange, job creation and sustainable economic growth.”
The MOU will allow Ontario Inc. through Chetty’s Hot Sauce to brand and distribute Bahamian Heat hot sauces globally.
The brand paves the way for the international recognition of Bahamian excellence
Darron Pickstock, executive chairman of the BAIC, said: “This signing represents the opening of a lane of new opportunities. These opportunities will touch the hands of our farmers who grow the crops, our food processors who add value, our truckers and shippers who move the foods, our retailers who bring them to market, and indeed the entire agricultural value chain of our nation.
“This partnership between the BAIC, Ontario Inc. and Mr. Preston Drummond marks the beginning of a bold step into the global marketplace.
“By cultivating locally grown Red Scotch Bonnet peppers and transforming them into a premium line of products under the co-branded identity Bahamian Heat, we are planting seeds that will bear fruit not only for our economy, but for the pride of our people and the international recognition of Bahamian excellence.”
Pickstock continued: “For far too long, we have held the belief that our food – which we hold dear as Bahamians – only had value within the shores of The Bahamas. But our culinary heritage tells a very different story.
“Pepper sauces, pineapple jams, coconut jelly, tamarind sauce, guava duff, conch fritters, all of these speak loudly about what is uniquely and culturally Bahamian.”