Small Axe Peppers facts for kids
Small Axe Peppers is a company based in New York City that makes hot sauce. What makes them special is that they buy the peppers they use from community gardens. These gardens are often in city neighborhoods.
The company was started in 2014 by John A. Crotty, Chef King Phojanakong, and Daniel Fitzgerald.
How Small Axe Peppers Helps Gardens
Small Axe Peppers began in 2014 with a goal to help community gardens in cities. They work with groups like GrowNYC and Bronx Green-Up, which is part of the New York Botanical Garden.
Each year, Small Axe Peppers gives thousands of small serrano pepper plants to over 40 community gardens in the Bronx. GrowNYC helps give these plants to the gardens every spring.
When the peppers are fully grown, Small Axe Peppers buys them. These peppers are the main ingredient for their tasty hot sauce.
Growing and Making Hot Sauce
In 2014, Small Axe Peppers gave 3,500 serrano pepper plants to GrowNYC. These plants went to gardens all over the Bronx. Even Lehman College grew peppers for the company in their garden that year.
That first year, Small Axe Peppers bought 150 pounds of peppers from Bronx gardens. Some of these gardens included Morning Glory Community Garden and Kelly Street Garden. From these peppers, they made 5,000 bottles of hot sauce.
The next year, in 2015, they collected 750 pounds of peppers. This allowed them to make 30,000 bottles of their "Bronx Hot Sauce."
By 2016, the Bronx community gardens grew 1,500 pounds of serrano peppers. This big harvest helped Small Axe Peppers make 70,000 bottles of hot sauce. That was a huge jump from their first year!
In 2018, Small Axe Peppers bought 1,500 pounds of peppers from 30 gardens in the Bronx. The following year, they gave out 1,800 new pepper plants to these gardens.
As of 2020, Small Axe Peppers has grown even bigger. They now buy peppers from community gardens in many other cities. These cities include Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Oakland, Seattle, and Los Angeles.
Awards and Recognition
Small Axe Peppers has received some cool awards and been featured in popular shows.
In 2017, their "Bronx Hot Sauce" won a special award called the Good Food Award. This award celebrates tasty, responsible, and fair food.
Their hot sauces have also been featured on the popular YouTube show Hot Ones. This show is hosted by Sean Evans, where guests eat increasingly spicy hot wings. The Bronx Hot Sauce was on season 5, and the Chicago Hot Sauce was on season 10. Sean Evans even said the Bronx Hot Sauce might be the "tastiest sauce" they ever had on the show!
