About Us

Hello, I'm Mario Fiel, President & CEO of Manofuel where we create authentic homemade, artisan hot sauces and rubs from fresh, garden grown ingredients.

Our story begins with a mistake. A VP and still close friend, Mark, with whom I worked back in 2003, sent my name in for a trade show.  His handwriting, not the most legible, created a name tag that read Mano Fuel instead of Mario Fiel.  Ever since then many people have called me Mano and even my children still do.

Our hot sauce story really starts back in late 1950’s as several of my cousins left Portugal to live in Lourenco Marques, Mozambique.  After the country gained its independence, the city was renamed to Maputo.  Mozambique - along with Angola and Goa - had previously been Portuguese colonies.

My cousins soon started sending us Piri Piri peppers and homemade, artisan hot sauce. The sauce was very rustic and was created by using a pumice stone to grind the peppers, adding  garlic, vinegar, oil and spices.  This mix, more of a paste than a sauce, was immediately rubbed on most meats and fish.