who is pikantista

Fabian grew up in Venezuela – a country where chili, heat and spice are as much a part of everyday culture as bread in Germany. That early influence never left him. When you grow up with the real chili culture of Latin America, you never see heat as pain again – but as a language.

The beginnings – Pika Pika Chili Compositions

From 2015, Fabian started working on his first spicy project alongside his regular job: Pika Pika Chili Compositions. Initially launched as an Amazon seller, the project quickly grew beyond that. Fabian travelled across Europe, visited chili festivals and built connections in a scene that was still largely unknown in Germany at the time.

Chili Mafia Hot Sauces – his own brand

Pika Pika evolved into Chili Mafia Hot Sauces – Fabian's own sauce brand. Small batch, no additives, real ingredients. Every sauce handmade and limited edition. Based in Trier, he still produces hot sauces today that show what heat really is: flavour, craft and character.

Spicy projects – chili-saucen.com & chili-plants.com

Alongside that, further projects emerged in the chili world:

• chili-saucen.com – a specialised online shop for hot sauces with one of Germany's largest assortments. B2B and B2C, for private customers and the gastronomy sector.
• chili-plants.com – a platform focused on chili plants and seeds, with extensive knowledge on growing, care and processing of rare chili varieties.

Europe – festivals, B2B and international partnerships

As an exhibitor and seller, Fabian was present at some of the most important chili festivals in Europe – not as a visitor, but as a producer and trader:

• Hanover – Chili Festival (2017, 2018, 2019)
• Eindhoven – Dutch Chili Fest (2019)
• Berlin – Chili Events (2021, 2022)
• Brussels – Chili Festival (2021, 2022)
• Valencia – Spain (2023)

Beyond direct sales, Fabian was also active as a B2B supplier – with chili products for restaurants, the food service industry and food manufacturers. Including chili mash, fresh chilis and other raw materials for professional processing.

In 2019, a close partnership began with Carlos Carvajal of Doctor Salsas from Granada, Spain – one of Europe's most renowned hot sauce producers with over 17 hectares of their own growing land. Fabian imports and distributes their sauces for the German-speaking and Northern European markets.

Pikantista – the next chapter

Pikantista.com brings together everything Fabian has built over more than a decade. A new brand, a new platform – but the same passion. Fabian's mission remains the same: to show Europe that heat is not pain – it's flavour, culture and a love of life.

You can also find Fabian on LinkedIn – where he regularly shares insights into the hot sauce world, European chili trends and the Pikantista project.

Founder, Pikantista

Hot sauce production, small-batch manufacturing, chili mash, fresh chilis B2B, chili cultivation, food import Europe, chili festivals, capsaicin & Scoville, B2B hot sauce distribution DACH, chili challenges & events, Doctor Salsas Granada