Gateway Course Helps Student Entrepreneur Launch Hot Sauce Business;
A heart attack forced Marthina Manick to adopt a bland diet, but her love of spicy food never left.
Tired after years of abandoning the robust flavors that she loved, Manick became interested in making her own hot sauce and enrolled in an online course in fermentation while she was home during the pandemic. “I thought it would be fun,” she said.
With an idea to create hot sauce with less salt and heaps of flavor, she began crafting batches and was happy with the results. Before long, Manick was producing small batches and bottling her spicy creations for friends and family. The reaction to her spicy sauce was overwhelmingly positive and she started to consider that a business might be in her future, but she did not know how to start. Manick attended culinary school in Colorado years ago but left before graduating. A friend suggested she contact Gateway Community College’s (GCC) culinary program.
Over the summer, Manick completed a “Hospitality & Tourism Training” course at GCC to help launch her sauce business, Dirty Fingers Artisanal Hot Sauce Company, in West Haven. "The knowledge and confidence the class gave me in starting this new business has been invaluable," said Manick, who resides in New Haven.
She partnered with her cousin, Jason Holmes, and works in a commercial kitchen to make approximately 100 bottles of sauce per month. As someone who was homeless once, Manick aspires to grow the company so that she can hire employees who need a second chance. The six-month-old company produces sauces with names like Bourbon & Blues, UnThai Me, and Black Pearl. Sometimes she includes smoked salts that she makes herself and has made seasonal varieties, including peach, mango, pumpkin, and cranberry, in additional to traditional styles. Through word-of-mouth Manick has managed to gain loyal fans of the sauce throughout Connecticut as well as Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina—all areas she has lived over the years and has a network of friends.
“There has been a great deal of interest in culinary classes by entrepreneurial students, including several in Marthina’s class with some great ideas for starting their own businesses,” said Chris Gentile, Gateway associate professor and program coordinator for the culinary arts & hospitality program. “The hospitality training provided a good starting point for these students seeking direction for their business ideas.”
“Hospitality & Tourism Training,” offered through the office of Workforce Development & Continuing Education and free to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants, provides a foundation in the basic concepts and methods of cooking, along with exposure to food service operations. Students earn Connecticut Hospitality Awareness Training (CHAT) program certification, as well as ServSafe Food Handler and TIPS Training Intervention Procedures. The next class will run January 3-13, Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The cost is $1,950 for those who are not eligible for assistance. To learn more, email , or call 203-285-2300.
About Gateway Community College
Located in New Haven, Connecticut, Gateway serves more than 5,000 credit students each semester, offering over 90 accredited degree and certificate programs that prepare students for transfer to four-year degrees and workforce training in areas with industry need.
Gateway is among 12 community colleges in Connecticut merging in July 2023 to become CT State Community College, one of the largest community colleges in the country and largest in New England, dedicated to quality, access and affordability. CT State students will be able to apply once and take classes at any campus. In addition to Gateway, other locations include Asnuntuck (Enfield), Capital (Hartford), Housatonic (Bridgeport), Manchester, Middlesex (Middletown & Meriden), Naugatuck Valley (Waterbury & Danbury), Northwestern (Winsted), Norwalk, Quinebaug Valley (Danielson & Willimantic), Three Rivers (Norwich), and Tunxis (Farmington) Community Colleges. Visit www.ctstate.edu/becoming for more information.