Hot Sauce Collection
The Chupacabra Pepper Team
Our Advisory Partners
Before we launched in 2021, we spent 10 years carefully curating
a team of experts to advise us on horticulture, the culinary world, the hot sauce industry, and small business ventures. We are proud to have an advisory team that spans across all these industries and is actively involved in the development, launch, and future of Chupacabra Pepper Co.
Nell Lukosavich, Founder & CEO
Nell, a US and Polish citizen born and raised in Houston, is the Founder and CEO of Chupacabra Pepper Co. She first learned the trade of growing peppers and making hot sauce over 30 years ago, when her dad would take her to the Houston farmers markets and have her taste test his homegrown sauces and salsas.
Since 2002, Nell has grown her own peppers and produced her own hot sauces, creating over 30 branded spice products, from the mild to the xxx-hottest of the scorchers. She launched Chupacabra Pepper Co in 2021 and has continued to travel the world, finding inspiration from pepper farms, manufacturing facilities, and spice products, from Thailand to Morocco to New Mexico.
In her pepper-adjacent life, Nell is the Head of Marketing for an energy intelligence consultancy, and has spent over 22 years in marketing management for oil & gas, tech, and consumer goods. Her food industry experience includes working for Two Rows Brewery, YUM! Brands, Moe's Southwest Grill, Dale & Thomas, Anheuser Busch, and IT'SUGAR.
Nell earned her BA in English and Spanish from Southern Methodist University, received her MBA and MA in Journalism from the University of Missouri, and in 2022, completed the AI for Global Business program at Harvard Business School.
Wesley Pavlick, CSO
Wesley is the Chief Spice Officer (CSO) at Chupacabra. He first learned the art and science behind the pepper industry at the age of two, as a taste tester and pepper picker for his mom. Wesley learned the Scoville Scale before his ABCs, and has traveled the world picking and taste testing peppers, sauces and spices.
He is involved in both the horticulture of Chupacabra's peppers, and the production of the company's hot sauce products. With an unusual palate for high-Scoville Scale peppers, Wesley also helps with scaling the heat of Chupacabra products.
Wesley is a recipient of the 2022 President's Award for Educational Excellence, and in his free time loves fishing, playing baseball and spending time with his bearded dragon, Spike.
Chupacabra sauces hit the market this fall!
Chupacabra products are coming to select Houston retailers this October, with online sales launching in November. Check back soon for more details.