Writer: Virginia Brown Photography: Rett Peek
Arkansas-born brand Supertasterz brings the flavor to sauces and drink mixes
Jason Cummings didn’t set out to create another hot sauce. He set out to create the right one. The Hot Springs native spent a decade as a food broker, representing dozens of food service manufacturers like Hidden Valley and Texas Pete, before starting Supertasterz, his Arkansas-born sauce company.
In his previous role, he traveled extensively, partnering with large distributors, to pitch products to restaurant owners and chefs. That experience gave him broad-ranging knowledge of the food industry, like what chefs needed, what diners expected—and what was missing.
In 2021, his career was shaken. “The pandemic decimated our industry, and I was laid off,” Jason says. In the downtime, a friend casually nudged him to develop his own hot sauce. At first, Jason shrugged it off, knowing firsthand how competitive the market is. Still, he kept thinking about it.
Eventually, he found a niche, a place where, when he was a broker, he didn’t have a product to sell. “When I went to pizza and Mediterranean restaurants, there wasn’t really a specific hot sauce,” he says. In 2022, drawing on ingredients like garlic, lemon, and porcini mushrooms, he developed his first concoction, Opera Sauce, a Mediterranean hot sauce. That summer, Supertasterz landed its first sauce placement at The Pizzeria in Little Rock.
Opera Sauce sparked a growing lineup that now includes the champagne-infused Arkansas Diamond Fire pepper sauce, a Sicilian marinara, the popular WOOO cest-er-shire sauce, a Bloody Mary mix, and a key-lime margarita mix. Jason’s family taste tests, and his wife, Elizabeth, who’s also an attorney, helps run the business. The products focus on an elevated culinary design and avoid artificial flavors or extreme heat. “In a pizza restaurant, you usually see crushed red-pepper flakes and a bottle of parmesan,” he says. “I realized, if a sauce is going to be for pizza, it should start with that type of pepper, something familiar, with a flavor profile that makes sense.”
Jason says the focus is on products that are pleasing to the palate. “We don’t want to make anything polarizing,” he says. “If it’s too hot for our 11-year-old son, it’s too hot for most people.”
Each product starts with an idea, followed by extensive market research. “I see if there’s a product that’s similar to one that I’m thinking of, and if there isn’t, I develop it from scratch,” he says. He keeps it around the house for a time, and the family tests it. “If we keep going back to it, and it’s good enough, we get the opinion of our professional network.” Once finalized, he partners with a co-manufacturer to meet professional standards. Today, the products can be found in dozens of restaurants across Arkansas, and into Louisiana, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and beyond.
In Little Rock, The Root Cafe began using Supertasterz products in 2022. Product quality is what did it for head chef Jonathan Arrington. The Diamond Fire sauce shows up in the spicy mayonnaise for burgers, a pickle brine, and a spicy hummus.
He also turns to the WOOO cest-er-shire sauce regularly. “In the kitchen, it does double duty,” Jonathan says. “It helps emulsify mixtures like meatloaf while also seasoning them, replacing multiple ingredients like soy sauce, tamarind, and rice wine.” A little goes a long way, and it “scratches a bunch of itches,” according to Jonathan. “It’s both highly functional and genuinely delicious. Any excuse I find to use the WOOO sauce, I do it,” Jonathan says. “That’s how much I love this product.”
For Jason, success isn’t measured simply by scale, but rather in small moments. “Every now and then, I stop and think: Thousands of people a day are eating our products,” he says. “It’s just wild to think about.”
“It’s both highly functional and genuinely delicious. Any excuse I find to use the WOOO sauce, I do it.”
–Jonathan Arrington, chef at The Root Cafe
Meatloaf, featuring WOOO cest-er-shire sauce, at The Root Cafe
House salad, featuring Arkansas Diamond Fire Champagne Pepper Sauce, at The Root Cafe
NOW SERVING SUPERTASTERZ
These restaurants currently use and/or sell the line
BENTONVILLE
Archie’s Sandwichery
HomeGrown
Walmart 8th & Plate
BRYANT
Different Dough Pizza Co.
CABOT
Buckman Brewhouse
Pea Farm Bistro
FAYETTEVILLE
Moff’s Pizza
The Farmer’s Table Cafe
HOT SPRINGS
Superior Bathhouse Brewery
SQZBX Pizza Joint
The Pancake Shop
LITTLE ROCK
BCW
Boulevard Bread Company
Bray Gourmet
City Silo
Ferndale Market
Hillcrest Little Bakery
Hill Station
North Bar
Problem Child
Rock Town Distillery
Rosie’s Pot & Kettle Cafe
Rusty Tractor Vineyards
Sterling Market
The Pizzeria
The Root Cafe
The Spot SoMa
NORTH LITTLE ROCK
North Bar
PARIS
Prestonrose Farm
ROGERS
HomeGrown
SHERWOOD
The Humble Crumb Bakery
SPRINGDALE
HomeGrown
