Growing up in Haiti, Stanley Dumornay often enjoyed manba—a spicy peanut butter spiked with Scotch bonnet peppers—with a stack of cassava biscuits.

“It was something we took for granted,” says Dumornay, who didn’t quite realize how special manba was until he was living elsewhere and visiting Haiti as an adult.

“I was traveling to the north of Haiti and we were caught in traffic. We smelled this aroma of freshly roasted peanuts like somebody was making manba. And the smell was so overwhelming we couldn’t think of anything else, so we had to look for the house where they were making the peanut butter. I remember vividly we went there and just took a hot scoop and poured it on the bread. This was by far the best peanut butter I’ve ever had in my life.”

Now, Dumornay makes a Manba Spicy Peanut Butter and Spicy Chocolate Peanut Butter with friend and business partner Jason Delis, who he introduced to the spicy spread.

“When people tell us they really enjoy manba, it never gets old. I feel privileged to run this type of business.”

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Photos: Courtesy of dD Manba and Brianna Coleman