The chili pepper may have originated in Mexico and Central America, but one entrepreneur is making Slovenian chilies an international sensation.

In 2003, Tomaž Pipp, a waiter from the small village of Sveti Duh near Škofja Loka, received some chili seeds from a friend and decided to plant his own chili plants in his backyard greenhouse. Even though the peppers had been familiar to Europeans since Christopher Columbus first encountered them in the Caribbean, they remained virtually unknown in Slovenian cuisine until very recently. Many people only developed a taste for chilies when Mexican and Chinese restaurants began to open across Slovenia.

By the time Pipp planted his chilies in a small corner of his greenhouse, Slovenia had begun to develop a taste for the exotic, and his peppers - along with the sauces he cooked using traditional methods - quickly developed a passionate following among his friends. Pipp soon added other varieties of chilies to his greenhouse; they were such a sensation that he decided to grow them commercially.

In 2010, Pipp started his own company and opened a new, larger greenhouse. He launched several chili sauces under his “Chili Pipp” brand. The sauces became an immediate hit and their sales have increased every year since.

Pipp now produces a number of sauces and salsas of various heat levels. His hottest concoction is known as 100% Pure Naga. The sauce so hot that it comes with a skull fob - and a warning that it should only be applied in drops. Pipp has also begun to offer chili-based products. On his website, he sells everything from dry chilies to chili jam and even chili candy.

But it is the international response to his products that has given Pipp his greatest fame. Almost on a whim, he entered an American chili sauce contest and ended up winning the top spot in three different categories. Since then, his chilies have been featured at festivals around the world and have won rave reviews from experienced chili tasters. Some fans have taken to YouTube to sing Pipp’s praises. His website has received orders from the U.S., Australia, and even Thailand. Pipp says that much of his success comes from using all-natural ingredients and traditional sauce-making methods.

Distributors from other European countries, including Netherlands and the UK, have shown interest in Pipp’s products, but so far, he doesn’t produce enough chilies to meet their demand. Pipp remains determined not to sacrifice quality for quantity. After all, it was his commitment to being the best that made him well-known in Slovenia and reminded the rest of the world of Slovenian culinary ingenuity.