b'relief to possible anti-cancer effects. Long-term risks and the broader medical role continue to be studied.One of the problems is the delivery method, because not everybody wants to eat a two-million Scoville pepper a couple times a day, Currie says.A Backyard Breeding ObsessionCurrie has kept his focus on breeding peppers. He says its a painstaking pro-cess, involving either random cross-pol-lination very early in the morning as the flowers open, or emasculating the plant and pollinating it the next day. He says record keeping is also critical.At one time, he expanded his bucket business into his neighbours yard, paying their electric and water bills in exchange for the space.It was hilarious, Currie says. But I still grow a lot of peppers now, evenPepper X displayed alongside its Guinness World Records certificate, officially recognizing it as the beyond my farm, because thats just howworlds hottest chili pepper following third-party laboratory testing. you stabilize varieties. Photo: Ed CurrieBut ultimately, it just takes time. Over the years, he has turned those backyard experiments into his own hot pepper empire. We have continued to expand,and handle them. In my experience, in I think I started with around 20,000making different hot sauces, and eventu- the truest form, he is a mad scientist buckets in the backyard, Currie says.ally supplying mash to large companies,when it comes to pepper genetics.My wife was not happy. Currie says.That many plants meant Currie and hisProtecting the Geneticsfamily were soon overrun with peppers. From Seeds to Store Shelves Partnering with Bonnie allows consum-We were harvesting approximatelyPucker Butt also sells seeds and part- ers access to his plants in a positive two to three pounds of peppers off eachnered with Bonnie Plants in 2020 to pro- avenue. Currie says there have been plant and there are only so many pep- vide their plants to consumers. Bonnieattempted plant thefts from the farm pers you can eat, he says. So, my wifeis currently growing Carolina Reaper,over the years, but most of his battles decided to sell hot sauce at the farmersApocalypse Red and other peppers inwith theft have been fought in the intel-market. Thats how Pucker Butt Hotlimited availability, according to Joeylectual property space.Sauce started, Currie says.Moorer, supply chain program manager. I own the trademark for the By 2005, they had a storefront, andEds work in the hot pepper spaceCarolina Reaper but people have been by 2008, a new kitchen.from the genetics standpoint is incrediblyusing it for 10 years, and we just finished Then, in 2013, Currie receivedimportant, but equally as important isa big court battle, he says. Now, anyone a Guinness World Record when hishis personality, Moorer says. He bringsusing that name needs to license it.Carolina Reaper was officially recognizedawareness to the space and gets consum- He says Pepper X has only been as the worlds hottest pepper with aners excited.released in mash and powder form, average of over 1.5 million Scoville HeatConsumers can get a head start atwhich will prevent anyone from growing Units (SHU). achieving Currie-level heat in theirit themselves. This brought Currie media attentionbackyards by starting with a pepper plant and opportunities, including collaborat- from their local garden centre ratherMeasuring the Heating with the brand First We Feast tothan a seed. Testing peppers for a world record is create specially branded sauces for theirAnytime you can start with a planta complicated process and Guinness YouTube show Hot Ones, which bringsto shorten the growth time is a goodrequires multiple third-party laboratory in millions of views each week. thing. And when it comes to hot pep- verifications. In 2023, Currie broke his own recordpers, specifically, even the seeds are hot,High-performance liquid chro-with his new superhot, Pepper X, whichMoorer says. They have oil on them somatography (HPLC) is the standard averaged 2,693,000 SHU at testing. it can make it a pain to harvest the seedsfor measuring the heat of a pepper. MARCH 2026SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA 31'