Must Chup
Here the Must Chup creators, twin brothers Andrew and Mark Salter explain about the history and thought process behind the Must Chup brand and how an idea about creating a unique sauce started as a dream and then became reality.
With both brothers being huge food lovers with a passion for using the best ingredients, it was only a matter of time before they would create a unique condiment sauce range using two of Europe’s most popular ingredients in ketchup and mustard.
Andrew and Mark grew up in the hospitality industry, Andrew following the hotel management route and Mark becoming a successful chef. As twins, they always wanted to work together and run a hotel of their own. However, a job opportunity for Mark meant he moved across to the East Coast of America while Andrew remained in the UK.
On their 50th birthday, Andrew travelled over to Maryland to celebrate their landmark birthday, enjoying some of the best soft-shell crabs from the Chesapeake Bay. It was here that Mark introduced Andrew to the idea of combining family favourites, ketchup and mustard into one bottle.
They were both amazed that these two popular ingredients had not previously been combined, especially as they worked so well together for the BBQ season.
Realising there was a growing demand for vegan and vegetarian cookery, they made sure that their sauce would meet the requirements of this expanding market, as well as addressing the concerns of people who require gluten-free, nut-free and dairy-free food. They were also conscious that mustard was one of the 14 recognised allergens and often contained gluten, so the use of gluten-free mustards was a key decision in their final recipe.
As many ketchups are mainly used as a table sauce, they chose a real tomato sauce rather than a commercial ketchup. They wanted to make it as versatile as possible so it could be used in cooking, as a marinade, a dipping sauce (by adding mayonnaise or crème fraiche) or simply as a traditional table sauce. This became their USP!
Must Chup ‘Original’ was launched in 2013, followed by the ‘Kick’ and ‘Big Kick’ in 2015, when Andrew saw a gap in the market for chilli ketchups. ‘Bad Boy Kick’ was launched in 2017 after customers were asking for a much hotter chilli sauce. By 2019, three out of the four sauces had gained ‘Great Taste’ awards from the Guild of Fine Food, with several rosettes being given to all our sauces at chilli festivals around the UK, judged by the general public.
Both brothers are delighted to have created a sauce range that meets the ‘all year round’ needs of the whole family, with versatility, great balance of flavour and heat, fun to use in recipes and can add a new dimension to many traditional family favourites.