Gage Ryan, left, and Killion Hardesy, right, have founded Kaged Heat, a collection of small-batch hot sauces featuring locally grown pepper.
July 25, 2025
Three years ago, Killion Hardesty, BA ’17, and buddy Gage Ryan, BS ’13, found themselves with a plethora of peppers on their hands — so they cooked up a plan that is blazing a new path within the Columbia condiment crowd. Together the University of Missouri alumni duo founded Kaged Heat, a collection of small-batch hot sauces featuring their own locally grown peppers.
“We grew a bunch of peppers without a plan,” Hardesty said. “Now, we are growing our own peppers with a specific plan to make hot sauce with unique ingredients.”
And by “unique ingredients” he means peppers such as the Komodo Dragon, a prominent flavor profile that’s popping up in his latest creation, as well as scotch bonnets, 7-pot, Bahamian goat peppers, habaneros and other peppers that tend to grow in the Caribbean. These homegrown peppers provide the heat for sauces including Smashed Peach, Roasted Poblano and Garlic Ghost.
“We are growing between 15 and 20 different pepper varieties this summer,” Hardesty said. “We are still trying to figure out which peppers grow best in our climate and what peppers work well for hot sauce and other ingredient pairings.”
Unleashing Kaged Heat at the farmers market
As business partners, Hardesty and Ryan are spicing up the local cuisine scene, with Ryan acting as the team’s horticulturist, and Hardesty mixing it up in the kitchen. Heat seekers can find their collabs online, at the Root Cellar and at Clover’s Market, but they’re really spicing things up at the Columbia Farmers Market, where they can connect with other area producers and source local ingredients such as onions, garlic and sweet peppers.
“We love selling at the farmers market,” Hardesty says. “It’s a great way to be a part of the community, and it’s a great way to meet new people. The market is definitely a special place and a lot of care has gone into making it what it is. I don’t know if we would be as successful as we are without it.”
Growing the next generation of entrepreneurs
When he’s not nurturing his budding business in a plot at the City of Columbia’s Fairview Community Gardens, Hardesty is helping young entrepreneurs grow in Mizzou’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business. As an academic advisor, Hardesty helps guide and inspire Trulaske students. He anticipates that the college’s innovative new CPG Career Pathway will ignite an increased interest in consumer goods. In the future, he'd like to give interested students a behind-the-scenes look at Kaged Heat. He hopes his experiences with launching a new business will inspire them as they build their own enterprises.
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