NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA (April 14, 2023) – Two Louisiana innovators are shaking up the pepper industry with their innovative approach and social media savvy. Louisiana Pepper Exchange, a leading supplier of peppers for the hot sauce category, has teamed up with Stalekracker, a popular Tik Tok chef, influencer, and food entrepreneur with over 6 million followers, to create new and exciting hot sauces and pepper purees. Their latest collaboration, the Aji Amarillo Pepper Puree, is set to launch on April 14th.

Meet Louisiana Pepper Exchange 

Louisiana Pepper Exchange is revolutionizing the way people experience heat and flavor in their food. Even if you’ve never tried a taste of Louisiana Pepper Exchange’s pepper purees, you’ve probably tasted their peppers. 

Louisiana Pepper Exchange is the leading supplier of peppers in the USA, making the base pepper ingredient for most hot sauces sold in the US. The company has been a behind-the-scenes purveyor to Tabasco and many other major hot sauce brands. Louisiana Pepper Exchange pepper mashes, each made from 20-plus different peppers, also go to companies that blend and package hot sauces for countless smaller brands. 

Other clients are large-scale food manufacturers that supply restaurants as well as a realm of fast food, full-service restaurant chains. 

They also bring that passion and knowledge to home chefs and restaurants around the country through a line of “pepper purees” that add flavor and spice to foods and drinks. But don’t call them hot sauces. 

“We have hot sauce customers around the country, and there’s a lot of affinity for Louisiana. They see Louisiana as the hot bed for hot sauce ,” said White. “But our pepper purees are intentionally not a hot sauce. They are an ingredient to make hot sauces and include in any dish or drink that you want to elevate through flavor, spice and some heat.”

Meet Stalekracker

Louisiana native Justin Chiasson, popularly known as Stalekracker on TikTok, has become a sensation with his cajun-themed entertaining and informative cooking videos. Since his first video in June 2020, Chiasson has gained a massive following of over 6 million users who tune in to learn how to cook Cajun cuisine, including wrangling gators and snapping turtles.

Chiasson's videos are characterized by his signature phrase, "Put dat on a cracker. Dat’s money dude!!" and cover a wide range of topics, from cooking crawfish, alligator, wings, and crabs to making beer cheese fries. He begins each video by introducing the dish and then demonstrates how to prepare it.

Thanks to his Tik Tok fame, Chiasson has grown Stalekracker into a business franchise. He monetizes his videos directly through the sale of crawfish and official merchandise, including t-shirts, spice blends, hot sauces and a cookbook titled "Da Cajun Two Step," which he co-authored with his wife. In addition, he has leveraged affiliate links to products he uses in his videos to generate indirect revenue. He’s also opened a franchise location of the Jambalaya Shoppe, which currently operates in Louisiana, Texas, and the Gulf Coast region. Additionally, he has helped to increase the sales of crawfish at Frugé Aquafarms, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

His unique catchphrases, including "While we wait, we HYDRATE," "Put DAT on a cracker dude!," and "That's money dude!," have become popular merchandise and affiliate links on his social media pages. With his infectious personality and culinary expertise, Chiasson’s fame continues to rise. 

The Partnership

Chris White, founder and CEO of Louisiana Pepper Exchange, speaks about how the collaboration came together. “We’ve been working with Justin for several years developing his hot sauce products after he’d been cooking with our pepper purees and mashes for a while,” explains White. 

“We started exploring limited edition flavors, unique peppers that aren’t commonly in the marketplace. Stalekracker loves mid-level heat with citrus notes, that’s the profile of the Aji Amarillo pepper. It’s a natural fit for him and pairs perfectly well with seafood, and his legendary crawfish boils.”

“Louisiana Pepper Exchange introduced me to “gourmet hot sauces”.. We’ve created unique products together that my fans and customers love,” says Justin about the partnership. “The Aji Amarillo flavor is MONEY, dude!” 

“It’s not a surprise that the launch timing pairs perfectly with crawfish season in Louisiana,” says White “No one does a crawfish boil like Stalekracker.” 

The Louisiana Pepper Exchange X Stalekracker Aji Amarillo heritage edition launch is Friday April 14th, exclusively on the Louisiana Pepper Exchange website. For more information about Louisiana Pepper Exchange, visit lapepperexchange.com, and for more about Stalekracker, visit thecajuntwostep.com

About Louisiana Pepper Exchange: 

Louisiana Pepper Exchange is a leading supplier of peppers in the US, providing the base pepper ingredient for most hot sauces sold in the country. They also offer a line of clean label "pepper purees" that are not hot sauces, but ingredients that can be used in any dish or drink for flavor and spice. The company has direct relationships with farmers in South and Central America and Mexico, sourcing millions of pounds of peppers annually. Their pepper purees are available in six different varieties and can be purchased on their website, Amazon, and major retailers. The company is located in New Orleans, and their passion for peppers and spicy cuisine is reflected in their products.

Learn more about Louisiana Pepper Exchange: lapepperexchange.com

Join the Louisiana Pepper Exchange on Instagram: @pepperexchange

About Stalekracker: 

Stalekracker (Justin Chiasson) is a TikTok Chef with 6+ million followers. He’s been featured on Tasty, Buzzfeed, Delish, and Mashed. Stalekracker has gained immense popularity with his entertaining and informative cajun-themed cooking videos. His videos cover a wide range of topics, from cooking crawfish, alligator wings, and crabs to making beer cheese fries. Stalekracker sells merchandise and food products, including spice blends, hot sauces, and a cookbook through his business Cajun Two Step. His signature catchphrases have become popular merchandise and affiliate links on his social media pages, and his fame continues to rise.

Learn more about Cajun Two Step: thecajuntwostep.com

Join Stalekracker on Tik Tok: @stalekracker 

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Press Images

PRESS CONTACTS:

For Louisiana Pepper Exchange:

Chris White

chris@lapepperexchange.com

225-665-0006

For Stalekracker:

Issac Capoozzi 

issac@cajunstep.com

985-514-6243