Local chili condiment company expands into area grocery stores

Sijang’s Garlic Chili Crunch is a spicy oil-based condiment that can be put on pizza, rice and other food. In recent weeks the locally based company has introduced its product in Richmond-area stores. (Photos courtesy Sijang)

A chili condiment devised to spice up one man’s diet is now available in a handful of local grocery stores.

Chesterfield-based Sijang, run by husband-and-wife team Chris and Kaitlyn Fitzner, is underway on a push to get jars of its Garlic Chili Crunch into brick-and-mortar retailers.

The oil-based product is now in eight Richmond-area shops such as Ellwood Thompson’s, Good Foods Grocery, Outpost Richmond and The Market at 25th.

The expansion kicked off earlier this year after a few months of selling the condiment strictly online through Sijang’s website and Amazon. Chris Fitzner said the goal for retail rollout is to in 50 stores both in the area and out of town by the end of 2024.

The company is targeting local specialty food stores in particular because Fitzner said he’s attracted to what he described as the sense of community those stores cultivate and shoppers who are more willing to try new things.

“The people who go to Ellwood Thompson’s are diehard fans. I like integrating with the community aspect of Richmond,” Fitzner said. “The customers at these places are open to new products. I’d call them food adventurers.”

The Garlic Chili Crunch is oil mixed with bits of onion, garlic, sesame seeds and Mexican chilies. It’s designed to be added as a topping to pizza, soup, eggs, rice and other food.

“I look at it as a versatile, heat-based condiment you can use on anything and everything,” Fitzner said. “It’s the perfect, ‘I want a little bit of kick but I don’t want it overwhelming.’”

Fitzner said his product is inspired by chili oils from Syria, Mexico and Italy. He said chili oil, also known as chili crisp, is growing in popularity as a condiment, and that part of his pitch to local stores is that they could get in on the trend with a Richmond-area company.

The company’s 6-ounce jars are sold in stores for $10 to $15.

Fitzner said the expansion into the brick-and-mortar world that started in January is an attempt to grow the business through a new avenue where he is able to engage with customers through conversations and in-person demos.

“I think it’s a natural progression. The online is great, Amazon is great, but it’s hard to develop that relationship with customers,” Fitzner said. “It widens the channel strategy so we don’t have all our eggs in one basket.”

Chris and Kaitlyn Fitzner

The Fitzners currently run Sijang as a two-person operation. The couple makes and packages the jarred condiments, and Fitzner said they’re making on average 100 to 150 jars a week. The company rents commissary kitchen space at Edible Education at 13566 Waterford Place near Brandermill.

The concept is a side gig for the couple. Fitzner works in marketing, and his wife, who has a background in restaurants, is a remote worker for a Massachusetts-based home energy rating firm.

Fitzner said Sijang intends to expand its product offerings with a line of sauces and other new products but he declined to elaborate on those plans. He said the company expects to launch new products later this year.

The Sijang brand originally launched around 2014 as a catering company that focused on Mexican-Korean fusion tacos but shut down about two years later. The brand was reborn as the condiment company in late 2023.

The company’s name means “market” in Korean, which Fitzner said was a nod to his desire to create a concept that felt lively and eclectic like an outdoor market.

Fitzner got the idea for the condiment last spring while dieting as a way to punch up his steady servings of chicken and broccoli, and he and Kaitlyn spent months fine-tuning the sauce that’s available now. He devised a sugar-free sauce as a way to introduce some culinary interest to his meals, in a way that stuck to his diet restrictions.

“I was trying to lose weight for quite some time and I was on keto but it was getting boring,” he said. “I was essentially coming up with it on my own to have some fun.”