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Florida Inmates Turn Up the Heat in the Big House

By JULIA ROGERS, AOL SMALL BUSINESS
Posted: 2009-09-17 19:04:30
Filed Under: Small Business, Marketing, Business Ideas, Online Business, Starting a Business
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A new group of small business entrepreneurs are taking the spotlight at Tampa, Florida's Hillsborough County Jail. Inmates at this minimum security facility are brewing and selling their own line of hot sauces. Even more unique than the sauce itself is the inmates' decision to embrace the unique product's roots by building the brand entirely around a prison theme, naming the condiment "Jail House Fire Hot Sauce" and using gripping slogans that include "So Lethal" and "Murder on the Taste Buds."

The original mastermind behind Jail House Fire Hot Sauce was a Cuban inmate who complained of the tastelessness of prison food and wanted to make improvements. The former inmate turned to the jail's horticultural program, run by Allen Boatman. The voluntary program offered only to well-behaved, trustworthy convicts granted special privileges -- "trusties" -- involves educating prisoners about growing plants, trees, herbs and vegetables and getting them to help maintain a working garden. At Hillsborough Jail, this garden includes over 1,200 different pepper varieties.

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    Some intensive recipe research led to the development of three different hot sauce flavors, available for $3 per 1.5-ounce bottle and $7 per five-ounce bottle at the jail itself, or online at www.jailhousefire.org. "No Escape" packs the most punch and issues a warning for the "faint of stomach." "Smoke" is less hot than it is flavorful, seasoning food with a smoky, almost barbecued/chipotle flavor. "Original" is a mild hot sauce with a fruity taste that has become a favorite among customers who like to have a trusty stand-by hot sauce on hand.

    Orders have been coming in from across the globe, from several European countries and even from Australia. Customers have said one of the most impressive qualities of the hot sauce line is the distinctiveness of each of its flavors; and these jailhouse industrialists still have more to come, with a fourth flavor "Misdemeanor" that will be available for purchase soon.

    But where does generated revenue from the hot sauce go, and how is the production funded? The inmates make no money from the product, nor does the horticulture program use taxpayer dollars. The money made from sauce sales goes back into an inmate fund that pays for the greenhouse where the peppers and other plants are grown.

    Because hot sauce sales only pay for part of the overall horticulture program at the jail, several times per year the program also hosts a public sale of its ornamental plants, shrubs and trees. Locals come in droves to support the program, and their purchase of its harvest helps fund gardening staples like fertilizer and soil.

    One of the biggest benefits for inmates of helping produce and market hot sauce is increased knowledge of how to effectively run a small business. They learn about important skills like teamwork, professionalism and respect that will help better prepare them to be productive in the work force once they are released. They also build confidence in their own ability to make positive contributions to a specific marketplace.

    Upon release, inmates also get an official certificate of completion in vocational horticulture from the school board, which can help them get jobs with the abundant number of local landscaping and nursery companies in the state of Florida.

    Web Site: www.jailhousefire.org
    Contact: lparker@hcso.tampa.fl.us

    2009-09-17 16:27:47
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    129 comments

    franksdreamland 04:45:20 AM Nov 04 2009

    Report This!

    http://homebasedflorist.blogspot.com

    lt34jake 03:07:39 AM Oct 30 2009

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    A fool's, fool would trust the ediibilty of this sauce being free of "special" treatment reserved for you "diddly do rights".The flavor may be more unique then you know.

    lt34jake 03:06:28 AM Oct 30 2009

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    A fool's, fool would trust the ediibilty of this sauce being free of "special" treatment reserved for you "diddly do rights".The flavor may be more unique then you know.

    socrat142356 01:58:29 AM Oct 30 2009

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    better yet when an inmate gets hurt making the sauce slipping on a spill, he will sue the state, got to love America.

    pyxinc 11:04:18 PM Oct 29 2009

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    What the hell is Kosher to be considered good? As long as something is good it is. A Rabbi does not have to sanction it.Your homes most times is worst, where you eat fecal matter,from unwashed hands,flies,worms,and a lot of unkown creatures,germs,and bacteria to talk about a food production which has to be inspected and have to be cleaner than where you live.

    nohaselman 06:54:33 PM Oct 29 2009

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    Datrix, You will never want to eat Ketchup on your Hot Dog again if you saw how it was made or the DOG you put it on.Ketchup has a few choice bodily fluids that get in it...namely SWEAT from the workers steering the vats and the little (non Kosher) taste treat you cover it with is made from various parts of swine that is swept up off the cutting room floor! Of course to the "Government Allowable Standards"! Um, Um good...just like the Obama song the little children sing!

    nohaselman 06:48:58 PM Oct 29 2009

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    Datrix you better NEVER eat Ketchup then! You should see how it is made and there are MANY things that go into ALL of them that you would not like to know about the BIGGEST is human sweat..yup. Been there, seen and have never used again. Enjoy that with your next non Kosher Hot Dog. For fun some times while in the unemployement line ready the "Governemant ALLOWED items in normal hot dogs. These tasty little treats are from food OFF THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR! Um, Um, UM Good..just like Obama song the kids sing says!Chow down ya'll!

    swamp1scog 06:38:56 PM Oct 29 2009

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    JUST WATCH OUT FOR THE "COCK MEAT SANDWICH"

    dderossi 04:39:00 PM Oct 29 2009

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    So how about if Obama now taxes the shit out of their little hot sauce business, and gives the money to other losers who have not been arrested yet. Now that would be funny.

    kell8b 03:53:31 PM Oct 29 2009

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    Ain't it great these criminals are making money? How about you? Thanks for everything libs.

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