Rogaland is Norway's headline matfylke, with dairy and meat farms threaded through Haugalandet and Haugaland Birøkterlag running close to 2,500 hives across the district. Chili Kjell, a small-batch sauce maker in Skjold run by Kjell Tellefsen, pulls from that same local honey supply and has taken a Silver Medal in Chili Honey with Reaper Honning at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship hot sauce competition.
Chili Kjell is Kjell Tellefsen's own operation, built around chilies grown in a small private garden he calls Jungelhagen and bottled in small batches for direct sale through chilikjell.no. The range runs from mild table sauces up to extreme heat, each bottle rated for strength so the customer picks the right tier. Reaper Honning sits at the top end of the range and is built from Carolina Reaper chili over a base of 100% Norwegian honey.
Nathan Austin on Reaper Honning:
"Putting Carolina Reaper over a base of local Norwegian honey is a sourcing choice as much as a heat choice. The honey is doing the structural work here, a regional ingredient carrying one of the hottest chilies in the world, and that's what makes the Silver in Chili Honey land." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Reaper Honning took a Silver Medal in Chili Honey: Carolina Reaper over 100% Norwegian honey, built and bottled in small batches in Skjold from chilies grown in Kjell's own Jungelhagen garden.
"Chili to the people, straight to your door has been the line from day one, and to take a European Silver in Chili Honey with Reaper Honning, made in Skjold with local Norwegian honey, is hard to take in. Big thanks to everyone who's backed Chili Kjell along the way." – Kjell Tellefsen, Chili Kjell
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 ran over 200 sauces from across the continent through blind tasting this year, scored on five criteria by a deliberately mixed panel of chefs, sommeliers, critics and chilli specialists. Chili Honey was one of the tightest categories in the 2026 edition, with only five EU entries on the table, so every podium in the category landed on a producer that judges flagged out of a small and self-selecting field.
"Chili Honey is one of our smallest categories by entry count, which makes the podium harder, not easier. A blind panel still has to put one bottle above another, and Chili Kjell's Reaper Honning came out with a Silver. Watching closely for what Kjell brings next." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Reaper Honning is available through Chili Kjell at chilikjell.no. Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=chili-kjell.
PRESS RESOURCES Reveal video on YouTube, embeddable: - Chili Honey: https://youtu.be/KUVUZ0AKsdA Press kit (photos, logos, AI lifestyle composites credited Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q5acz9oNQYEuF7kUAkIlSQvZgSAooDZr?usp=drive_link
ABOUT CHILI KJELL Chili Kjell is a small-batch hot sauce maker in Skjold, Vindafjord, in the Rogaland region of western Norway, run by Kjell Tellefsen. Chilies are grown in Kjell's own private garden, Jungelhagen, and the sauces are made in small batches with fresh ingredients and sold direct to consumers through chilikjell.no. The range covers mild table sauces through to extreme heat, each bottle rated for strength.
ABOUT THE EUROPEAN HOT SAUCE AWARDS The European Hot Sauce Awards (EHSA) is the professional competition for commercially produced hot sauces in Europe, run annually since 2024 from heatawards.eu. EHSA was born out of the Berlin Chili Festival, which has run since 2019 and returns 4–6 September 2026, and became an independent competition in 2024. Over 200 sauces from producers across the continent were entered in 2026. Entries are judged blind across five criteria: aroma, heat profile, flavour, creativity and finish. The 2026 edition covers 16 categories, with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded across multiple positions in each. Each category also names a Best in Category, the top Gold. EHSA is run independently of any single producer or retailer.
ABOUT REPUBLIC OF HEAT Republic of Heat is a European hot sauce subscription designed to show off the flavours coming out of Europe and help solve the distribution problem independent makers face. Founded June 2025 in Berlin by Nathan "Naga" Austin and Simon "Scoville" Gardner. The Discovery subscription delivers three handpicked craft sauces plus a spicy extra to subscribers across the EU each month. Press partner of the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026. republicofheat.com.
PRESS CONTACT Press: Republic of Heat, on behalf of European Hot Sauce Awards contact@republicofheat.com +49 176 41601284
— End –
Press contact
Contact the Council