Shortage driving up prices, putting the squeeze on hot sauce
Durrant Pate/ Contributor
Jamaican Scotch bonnet peppers are the latest food to be hit by a shortage in Canada, which has been sending up prices of the imported product.
The spicy peppers are a key ingredient in Jamaican jerk seasoning and hot sauces, which are table staples in Jamaica and are also popular in Canada and part of a growing global demand for Caribbean flavours. The Jamaican produce has been hammered by recent weather events, such as Hurricane Melissa in October 2025
CBC News in Canada has reached out to Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture, the Jamaica Agricultural Society and the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority for data on Scotch bonnet peppers but says it hasn’t gotten any feedback yet. The Canadian media have been reporting of Jamaican Scotch bonnet pepper shortages and price increases, adding that some hot sauce makers have had to scale back production.
Difficulty getting Scotch bonnet peppers
In Toronto, several shops and distributors have told CBC News how difficult and expensive it is to get Scotch bonnets, with some saying soaring jet fuel prices are adding to shipping costs. “Everything right now in Jamaica is expensive. Every single thing,” explained Andy Narine, the owner of Tamisha Trading, a Caribbean produce distributor based in Scarborough, Ontario.
Jamaican Scotch bonnet peppers are barely being stocked in Toronto grocery stores because it’s much cheaper for distributors to get peppers from Trinidad and the Dominican Republic, Narine added. An eight-pound box of Scotch bonnet peppers from the Dominican Republic might cost CAD$30 or CAD$40, versus CAD$60 for a box from Jamaica.
Prices have doubled over the past few years, said Joannah Grant-Bailey, the second-generation owner of Caribbean Corner grocery store in Toronto. The peppers have also been harder to get, she argued, noting that she has managed to keep their shelves stocked with Scotch bonnets thanks to her mother’s longstanding relationship with their Jamaican suppliers.
More orders coming in for Scotch bonnet pepper
As a result, Grant-Bailey said more restaurants and catering businesses are ordering Scotch bonnets from Caribbean Corner in bulk. In fact, someone called the store on Thursday asking to reserve three cases of Scotch bonnets. The scarcity is making it cost-prohibitive for Scotch bonnet pepper sauce companies, which Grant-Bailey declared is driving up the retail price for the condiment.
Grant and his wife, Shanice Bedward-Grant, have tried to grow Scotch bonnets every year since 2021, the year they launched their farm, Nature Inspired Jamaica. They’ve had two successful crops. The rest were devastated by pests called thrips, disease and 2024’s Hurricane Beryl.
Bedward-Grant, a farmer at Nature Inspired Limited in St. Catherine, pointed out that Scotch bonnets are a challenging crop, noting that recent hurricanes have contributed to a price increase and lower yield. After they lost another crop to disease last year, they didn’t plant it again.
Instead, when Hurricane Melissa swept across the island in late October, it wiped out their sweet peppers and sorrels. Canada imported about $3.72 million of mixed condiments and seasonings from Jamaica in 2025, according to Statistics Canada trade data. Alongside the U.S. and U.K.
Canada is one of the top export destinations for Jamaican hot pepper sauce, according to Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining.
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