Writer: Emmett McMenamy
Photos: Duane Tinkey
A popular local hot sauce is now available in grocery stores, thanks to a boost from a state grant.
HoQ, the East Village eatery that serves locally sourced fare, received a $25,000 Choose Iowa grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in March 2024 to scale up its hot sauce production. Chef and co-owner Suman Hoque buys most of his hot sauce ingredients from Iowa farmers and producers.
Hoque opened HoQ in 2012 and has guided its growth, with a HoQtail bar, HoQ-branded product sales in local grocery stores and a new spinoff restaurant called Flora at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. The state grant has been a key ingredient for continued success.
“I was excited,” Hoque said. “We are the first restaurant to get that grant.”
The Choose Iowa grant allocates money to farms, small businesses and nonprofits to boost Iowa agriculture. Hoque used it to buy freezers, packaging equipment and other necessities to sell his hot sauce to a bigger market.
The space next to HoQ, which is at 303 E. Fifth St., used to be a coffee shop but is now packed with tomatoes and freezers for hot sauce production. Before Hoque bought the extra space in 2018, he’d never really envisioned an expansion because the restaurant industry is so challenging.
“I opened the business when I was 30 years old. Now I’m 42,” said Hoque, who grew up in Bangladesh. “I said: ‘I’m young. If I lose, I start over again.’ ”
Hoque hasn’t needed to start over in a new career. He worked as a chef in Greece, Colorado and Wyoming but settled down here in Des Moines after HoQ’s success. He’s mixed his global experiences with local ingredients to create unique flavors, including the spicy kick of his hot sauce.
“People love it,” he said. “Why don’t we bring that product to the grocery store?”
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