b"From Seeds to Store Shelves Protecting the GeneticsPucker Butt also sells seeds and part- Partnering with Bonnie Plants allows nered with Bonnie Plants in 2020 toconsumers access to his plants in a provide their plants to consumers. Bonniepositive avenue. Currie says there have Plants is currently growing Carolinabeen attempted plant thefts from the Reaper, Apocalypse Red and otherfarm over the years, but most of his bat-peppers in limited availability, says Joeytles with theft have been fought in the Moorer, supply chain program manager. intellectual property space.Ed's work in the hot pepper spaceI own the trademark for the Carolina from the genetics standpoint is incred- Reaper but people have been using it for ibly important, but equally as important is10 years, and we just finished a big court his personality, Moorer says. He bringsbattle, he says. Now, anyone using that awareness to the space and gets con- name needs to license it. sumers excited.He says Pepper X has only been released Consumers can get a head start atin mash and powder form, which will prevent achieving Currie-level heat in their back- anyone from growing it themselves. yards by starting with a pepper plant from their local garden center rather thanMeasuring the Heata seed. Testing peppers for a world record is Anytime you can start with a planta complicated process and Guinness to shorten the growth time is a goodrequires multiple third-party laboratory thing. And when it comes to hot pep- verifications. pers, specifically, even the seeds are hot,High-performance liquid chromatogra- Bonnie Plants supply chain program Moorer says. They have oil on them sophy (HPLC) is the standard for measuringmanager Joey Moorer connects proprietary it can make it a pain to harvest the seedsthe heat of a pepper. Winthrop Universitypepper genetics with gardeners through and handle them. In my experience, in thechemistry professor Cliff Calloway hasretail plant production.PHOTO: BONNIE PLANTStruest form, he is a mad scientist when itworked with Currie for nearly 15 years, test-comes to pepper genetics. ing his hottest peppers. Hot sauce bottles move through a filling line at Pucker Butt Pepper Company,showing how superhot pepper genetics translate into scaled production.PHOTO: ED CURRIEFEBRUARY 2026SEEDWORLD.COM /19"