Forthcoming — date unconfirmed
A notable result for Latvia, and particularly for the Cēsu novads. Svilis Pepper Farm from Augšligatne has taken Gold and Best in Category in the Garlic Chili Sauce category at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026, the professional competition for hot sauce in Europe, against a field of over 200 entries.
Svilis Pepper Farm is one of Latvia's largest chilli farms, founded by Jānis Svilis after he realised Latvia needed wider availability of chili peppers. Coming from a farming family, he started experimenting with production in his home kitchen in Andrejsala in Riga, and scaled up to a full farm in the Līgatne area where visitors can tour the chilli production process and taste the range.
Latvian-grown chillies, processed into sauces, spicy jams and pickles. The produce is the centre of the operation.
Garlic Chilli is a four-chilli flavour bouquet built around a heavy garlic content, around 50% of the sauce is garlic, including Espelette and other hot varieties. Roughly 13,678 SHU, mild-to-medium heat. Pairs with pasta, garlic bread, pizza, roasted potatoes, grilled meat and eggs.
Two further placings come from the same Augšligatne farm: Dill with IT (Silver, Mild Chili Sauce) and Pickled Jalapeno (Bronze, Sambal, Chutney and Pickles).
"Happy to hear our sauce won European Hot Sauce Awards in the garlic chili type sauce category. The award means to us that we are doing something right, and it motivates us to grow forward and make more delicious products. Also, it's nice to become recognisable in the European chili world. Stay Spicy!" – Jānis Svilis, Svilis Pepper Farm
"Republic of Heat tastes hundreds of European hot sauces every year for the Discovery box. Svilis Pepper Farm is exactly the kind of producer we go looking for, small kitchen, real flavour work, the kind that gets European hot sauce taken seriously. EHSA placing them is the external check on what we'd say anyway." – Nathan Austin, co-founder, Republic of Heat
The European Hot Sauce Awards (EHSA) runs for the third time in 2026. Every entry is judged blind by a panel of chefs, sommeliers and chilli specialists across five criteria: aroma, heat profile, flavour, creativity and finish.
Republic of Heat is presenting the EHSA 2026 winners category by category on YouTube. The Garlic Chili Sauce reveal: https://youtu.be/7ATiV-ZJHU0
"European hot sauce has more good producers than people realise, hidden away in small kitchens from Malta to Latvia. EHSA was set up to bring them to a wider audience and judge them blind, on the same five criteria across the board. Svilis Pepper Farm's 2026 placing means they're one of the producers worth knowing about." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
The winners are revealed ahead of Berlin Chili Fest, 29 to 31 May, at Berliner Berg Brauerei, Treptower Str. 39, Berlin 12059.
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. Entries are judged blind by a panel of chefs, sommeliers and chilli specialists 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 Berlin-based hot sauce subscription founded in June 2025 by Nathan Austin and Simon Gardner. The Discovery subscription delivers three handpicked European craft hot sauces plus a spicy extra to subscribers across the EU for €35 per month, including postage within Germany. Republic of Heat stocks only European independent producers, no American sauces, no extract-based products. Website: republicofheat.com
CONTACT Simon Gardner Press, European Hot Sauce Awards contact@republicofheat.com heatawards.eu
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