Dat’l Hook Ya: How a Backyard Experiment Sparked a Family Business Built on Flavor
Anchored in St. Augustine, Florida, the family behind Dat’l Hook Ya grew up on the water, spending decades fishing offshore and sharing meals made from the day’s catch. That deep connection to the angler lifestyle and the outdoors eventually sparked a new passion in 2015, when an abundant harvest — including the city’s iconic Datil peppers — inspired their first homemade hot sauce. What began as a backyard experiment quickly gained momentum, with their initial run of 1,000 bottles selling out in just a few months. By 2021, Dat’l Hook Ya had grown from a family project to a brand found in hundreds of stores.
Today, co-owners Elise and John continue to scale their product offerings, while still sourcing the fresh ingredients possible — including Datil peppers they grow themselves. In this Q&A, Elise takes us through the journey of starting the business and shares why their commitment to clean-label ingredients is more than just a branding decision.
Neighborly: Every business has a founder's story — what led you to starting Hook Ya?
Elise: Hook Ya was born from the same places that raised us — the water and the garden. We grew up in humble homes where fishing and growing your own vegetables weren’t hobbies; they were how you put food on the table. That rhythm of living off the land stayed with us into adulthood.
In 2015, we had a small winter greenhouse overflowing with tomatoes, Datil and jalapeño peppers, herbs, and everything else we could coax from the soil. Using those ingredients — and the few staples in our pantry — we made our first Datil pepper sauce. Most Datil sauces lean sweet, but we wanted one that tasted like us: bold, clean, and made for fresh-caught fish.
When a friend tasted it for the first time and said, 'Now that’ll hook ya,' the name wrote itself. Dat’l Hook Ya — a sauce born from the garden, perfected in the kitchen, meant for life on the water.
Neighborly: Being a family business brings its own thrills — and also challenges. What's that been like?
Elise: For us, running a family business has always felt like a natural extension of our lives. We’re real people making real products we use every day — products meant to elevate the outdoor lifestyle and bring a little culinary adventure to the table.
Our biggest challenge is also our biggest promise: quality. We insist on sourcing the best ingredients and keeping everything 100% USA-made because we want our success to support our neighbors and local farmers. Our tomato paste arrives straight from California growers in 55-gallon drums — pure, fresh, and free of the “canned taste” you get in store-bought products. We grow most of our Datil peppers ourselves and source the rest from local growers. Because Datils can’t simply be imported from elsewhere, a bad crop year would be catastrophic — so we freeze and store two years’ worth to guarantee supply and keep our flavor consistent.
Family business or not, we hold ourselves to a standard many big brands don’t. We wouldn’t make it any other way.
Neighborly: Datil peppers are synonymous with St. Augustine. For those who haven't tried it in a sauce, how do you describe the flavor?
The Datil pepper is every bit as special as the story behind it. When the Minorcans left for the New World, they carried with them a pepper that cross-pollinated along their long journey — along the African coast, through the Caribbean — picking up layers of flavor as it went. By the time they landed in St. Augustine, the pepper had become something unique, something we now treasure.
Its heat is comparable to a habanero but arrives slowly, almost politely. The warmth builds, brings a natural sweetness, then fades without lingering. No burn that overstays its welcome — just balanced heat and flavor. It’s truly a pepper you experience, not endure.
Neighborly: You also try to source other natural ingredients in your products. Why has that been important to you?
Elise: Our commitment to clean ingredients is deeply personal. John has battled lymphoma three times — beginning at age 25. Each round was extremely aggressive, and the treatments even more so. There were moments we weren't sure he’d make it.
After that, living cleanly and intentionally wasn’t optional. It became a mission.
As a company, we want to show that clean-label products don’t have to compromise on performance or flavor. You shouldn’t have to choose between ingredients you can trust and food that tastes incredible. With us, you get both.
Neighborly: We love your Datil Pepper Sauce, which we are featuring in this year's holiday collection. What are your favorite foods to top it with?
Elise: Our philosophy is that great sauces should elevate what you cook — not just cover it. That’s why we have over 120 recipes on our website that highlight versatility and depth of flavor.
But if we had to pick favorites?
• Fish tacos — bold, bright, unbeatable. Here you just pour it on!
• Dat'l Hook Ya Ultimate Chorizo Black Bean Queso Dip — always a crowd-pleaser.
• Dat’l Hook Ya Paella — a full experience, not just a meal.
Once people cook with it, they realize it’s more than a hot sauce — it’s a culinary tool. And yes, those favorites are on the website.
Neighborly: It sounds like your business has grown quite a bit since launching a decade ago. What's next for you?
Elise: Our motto is simple: See a need, fill a need. We let our own adventures guide innovation.
In 2023, we began developing a 100% plant-based body wash. After more than 250 formulations, we’re close to matching — and in many ways surpassing — the feel and performance of synthetic washes while remaining safe for people and the environment. It's getting close to the final, but we won't release it until it's perfect.
We’re also crafting a 100% natural mineral sunscreen stick housed in a biodegradable container. If it falls overboard or gets dropped on a trail, it will break down naturally without leaving microplastic behind.
Everything we make, we make because we needed it first — and we knew others did too.
