Newmarket resident Carlos Ampa started his company, Cheftacular, on a bit of a whim.
“I have been chef for over 20 years,” said Ampa, who got a start in the world of food as a teenager working at Wendy’s before going to Humber College for culinary studies and working in a variety of kitchens from bars to fine dining. “I always wanted to do my own thing. (Cheftacular) kind of just happened.”
Ampa was in a group chat with his friends when they came up with the idea of Cheftacular, a company that creates marinades and sauces.
That was in 2019, just before the pandemic, and Ampa was trying to create brand awareness at farmers markets in York Region and beyond.
“Once the pandemic hit, there was no sampling,” Ampa said, which meant he was trying to sell a product that no one had heard about with items they hadn’t tried. Ampa continued to go to markets, including the Newmarket Farmers’ Market, where he will return to Saturdays the first weekend in May until the last weekend in October.
Ampa also got his products into stores such as Williams Sonoma, which, pre-pandemic, carried local products, as well as Olive Oil Co., which has been supportive since the beginning. Ampa continues to build brand awareness through word of mouth and social media.
“I am very personable. I like to talk to people and get feedback from customers.”
He also likes doing his own thing.
“Cooking for me is high pace, high volume, high stress. It’s stressful, but it’s fun. It teaches you to think on your feet” and how ingredients work together. But working in other people’s kitchens can be “demoralizing” as many restaurant owners don’t have a culinary background, which leads to their chefs feeling stifled creatively, Ampa said.
It’s what makes food trucks so appealing. “You can afford a truck.”
It’s the same with Cheftacular.
“I can do it my way. I can still be creative.”
Ampa said his products are versatile and he loves showing people what they can do with them: beyond marinades, they can be used for dips, spreads, bases and more.
Ampa started Cheftacular with three marinades, or what he calls the Holy Trinity of marinades: Asado marinade, or Peruvian-style marinade inspired by his mom’s home cooking, piri piri sauce and a jerk glaze.
“They showcased a good variety...I played on what I had done before and made them my own.”
The following year he created three barbecue sauces: North of 6, a Canadian-style barbecue sauce that is sweet and smoky; the Brave and the Bold, which is extra spicy; and the Luck of the Irish, an all-around barbecue sauce.
“Then I did three new marinades. People were asking for a chimichurri sauce and then I did two more,” because, Ampa said with a laugh, he likes doing things in threes. He recently added a hot chili paste.
Ampa said he doesn’t plan to add any more marinades and sauces to his line-up but is looking at other possibilities, including dry rubs.
For now, Ampa said he will continue to create small batches of his marinades to sell at farmers markets and get it into more stores.
During the busy season, Ampa creates his marinades and sauces out of a commercial kitchen in Toronto every week. This ensures his products aren’t sitting for long, which is important as he doesn’t use preservatives. Small batches are also important for quality control and for improving flavour.
Ampa said his motto is “is bridging the gap between local ingredients and international flavours.”
Ampa sources locally as much as he can, while also creating marinades inspired by flavours from all over the world.
He is also mindful of Cheftacular’s environmental footprint.
“We use glass jars. We didn’t want to use plastic and tried to be as environmentally friendly as we can be. Everything we use is 100 per cent recyclable.”
The “we” in Cheftacular are friends, who share their ideas in group chats (“group chats, where all ideas come about”); his mom, who inspires him; and former colleagues from whom he learned from over the years.
“A lot of people helped me get to where I am.”
