Members of the Tenino community had the opportunity to experience the taste of Southwest Washington during the grand opening of Colvin Ranch Provisions Friday afternoon at the Tenino Agriculture and Innovation Park.
Colvin Ranch Provisions is a new storefront that exclusively features products grown, raised and produced in Southwest Washington. The business, which expands on the family-owned and operated grass-fed cattle ranch near Tenino, is located at 16404 Old Highway 99 in Tenino.
Producers from around the region offered free samples to those in attendance and answered questions about their business. Customers can find products from more than 20 local vendors while perusing the store’s shelves and refrigerators.
Local producers include:
• Colvin Ranch — beef jerky, honey, bird suet, tallow pet care, beard and hair balm, soaps, candles, and more from Tenino
• GoofyFoot Snack Co. — pretzels from Olympia
• Jalisco Tortilla Factory — chips from Shelton
• Earthling Food Company — toasted pumpkin seeds from Olympia
• Wild Heart Sipping Vinegar — hand-crafted, cold-aged sipping vinegar from Tenino
• HotBabe-HotSauce — Caribbean-style hot sauce from Tenino, formerly from Tumwater
• Bucks Spices and Teas — herbs, spices, teas and rubs from Olympia
• Grist Urban Stone Mill Flour Shoppe & Grainery — fresh milled flour from Centralia
• TUNaWERTH Creamery — dairy farm located in Rochester and creamery located in Tenino
• Chehalis Mints
• Burnt Ridge Nursery — jam, apple butter, applesauce from Onalaska
Jennifer Colvin, owner of Colvin Ranch Provisions, thanked the crowd at the grand opening before highlighting a few local vendors in attendance and cutting the ribbon with her family.
“I am so happy to be here and joined with some of my fellow local producers here in Southwest Washington,” Colvin said. “The idea behind the store was to create a showcase for all of the great food that is being produced here in Southwest Washington and to bring together under one roof the bounty that we have here in this region. We are so lucky to have so many great farms, ranches, producers and chefs that are creating incredible food.”
One local producer that offered samples is HotBabe-HotSauce, which operates a production facility on the other side of the wall of Colvin Ranch Provisions at the Ag Park. The business, owned and operated by Sandra Bocas and Fiona Douglas-Hamilton, first began selling Caribbean-style hot sauces in 2013 and was previously located in Tumwater before relocating to Tenino.
When Bocas moved to Washington from Europe in 2011, she couldn’t find any hot sauces that weren’t generic or factory-made. She longed for the fresh taste of the Caribbean, where she is from. Bocas complained to Douglas-Hamilton, whom she met through a mutual friend over a dozen years ago, about the lack of interesting hot sauces. Douglas-Hamilton gave her a challenge.
“Make your own.”
The first hot sauce Bocas sold in downtown Olympia was a combination of fresh lime, cilantro, garlic, tomatoes, and a variety of peppers to give it a “fresh and delicious” base flavor, Bocas said, adding that the company does not use gums in its hot sauces.
HotBabe-HotSauce sold hot sauces at numerous farmers markets, both seasonal and year-round, including Olympia, Seattle, Ballard, and it sells products online and now on the shelves at Colvin Ranch Provisions.
“It’s the fresh flavors. Even though we have some pasteurized hot sauces, we are using fresh peppers which have retained their flavor that you do not get in factory-made hot sauces,” Bocas said. “That really sets them apart from the others. It’s not just peppers and throwing them in a pot. It’s really a careful tasting of the citrus and the pepper, the burn in the pepper, the delayed burn in the paper, and where on the palate it comes in.”
HotBabe-HotSauce moved into the Ag Park in the summer, and both Bocas and Douglas-Hamilton praised the partnership with Colvin Ranch Provisions and the other local partners that made the Ag Park possible.
“It’s a really beautiful combination between private businesses, county support, city support and state support,” Douglas-Hamilton said.
To learn more about HotBabe-HotSauce, visit https://www.hotbabe-hotsauce.com/ or its Facebook or Instagram pages.
To learn more about Colvin Ranch and Colvin Ranch Provisions, visit https://colvinranch.com/.
