Meet Cindy Reed Wilkins of Cin Chili and Company in Southwest

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Reed Wilkins.

Cin Chili & Co. was developed from a hobby and a dream after the owner, Cindy, won the International Chili Championship back-to-back in the early nineties. After marrying her husband, Bruce, he helped make her dream of owning her own business and sharing her story of the love of chili. They developed their gourmet food business in 2005 and created an award-winning chili recipe for all to enjoy. Shortly after their inception, she was called by The food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” and completed against him on the show which sent their notoriety and chili mix to the national public.

From this time, they expanded the product line to include a variety of Hot Sauces, BBQ Sauces, Passion Pickles, and are introducing a new product called Passion Pickle Mixer, which is a project that is ever so popular as to include an infused mixer of pickles juice with a sweet heat of habanero.

After 12 years of operation, .Cin Chili has grown from one product to fourteen product, they have traveled around the country and presented their products to the public at festivals and trade shows for more recognition. 

“We take pride in producing products from quality ingredients and sharing the love of our story and the business. The thought of making your hobby a successful business through hard work and perseverance is truly a blessing!” – Cindy Reed Wilkins

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The food industry is never is a smooth road! Because of the nature of the industry, small entrepreneurs are often lost in the shuffle of the bigger companies and their marketing dollars.

The saying’ you gotta spend money to make money” is so true! When operating on a shoe string budget, you have to become creative in marketing, product development, and time well-spent. Unless, you can afford a staff, it gets tricky to coordinate all the aspects of running a business.

When you own your own business, you are never off-duty. There is a constant juggling from product development to selling to managing finances to advertising, etc.

You can run into hurdles from distribution to shipping to end result user and must stay on top of it all 24-7.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Cin Chili & Company – what should we know?
Our business is primarily food related. We sell and distribute a line of specialty products to upscale specialty food and gift locations. We have been in business for over 12 years. We specialize in a chili seasoning mix and have incorporated other products into the company.

We are known for the chili mix as it is our signature product and what brought us into the limelight, Known as the “Chili Queen”. Cindy is famous for her chili as she is the only back-to-back international chili champion and received numerous awards and accolades for her chili mix.

This is what sets us apart from all the others as no one has defeated or beat her championship record. We are most proud when fans and customers tell us that this is the best chili ever and they only purchase our mix.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My husband, Bruce had been the best supporter, as he is the one that helped form the company and all aspects of our success. While I wanted to do something with the championship win, he was the one that helped us to move forward in creating the company and the chili mix. We both left our regular careers to make it work as a full-time profession.

My parents are my mentors, my mother is also a world champion, while my father won second place the same year. They encouraged me to participate in our hobby; thus, the championship and making it into a business.

We have numerous friends that also compete in chili, that have helped us along the way by promoting and working with us at various events along the way. We have numerous clients who have believed in us since the inception of our business and have continued as loyal customers from the beginning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cinchili.com
• Phone: 832-372-7049
• Email: cindy@cinchili.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cinchili/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cinchili/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CinderosaChili

Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.