WHEN dinner party guests ask you to make extra so that they can take some home, you must be doing something right.

So when Victor Nwosu found himself in this situation, he used it to his advantage and set up his chillibased business – Wiga Wagaa Chilli.

“I love food,” said Mr Nwosu, of Shotley Bridge, near Consett. “I enjoy eating different foods, which I think comes from travelling all around the world.

“I like to experiment with flavours and make different sauces. My friends started asking if they could take some home. I thought, well, if they like it so much, then maybe other people will too, so it went from there.”

It was in 2012, when it was still a hobby, that Mr Nwosu signed up for his first food festival.

“People tested the stuff and liked it,” he said. “I certainly wasn’t discouraged, so I went back and worked on it a bit more.

“It is about the taste you get not only during eating, but also the kick afterwards.”

Over a number of months, he expanded his range to include chilli oils, pastes, jam, mayonnaise and even popcorn.

He produces all his products from his home and has won gold stars at the 2013 Great Taste Awards, less than a year after starting trading.

Mr Nwosu is looking forward to the Bishop Auckland Food Festival, which is one of a series of events he has signed up to across the country this year.

At the moment most of his products are sold at food festivals and farmers’ markets, but some items are being sold in shops in Bath and Scotland, and he is making inquiries to extend this to more stores in the future.

“I am trying to increase the general awareness of the product and I am encouraged by the signs,” he said. “I want people to come and try my products. It is the only way people will find out what they taste of.

“It is my first time at this festival and I am really looking forward to it.”

For more details on Wiga Wagaa Chilli, visit wigawagaa.com.