

The Bronx Greenmarket Hot Sauce is an artisanal variety with a great backstory, and is made right here in the Bronx. In collaboration with GrowNYC, Small Axe Peppers donates pepper seeds to more than thirty Bronx community gardens, where they are tended to by community gardeners.

When they are fully mature, the company purchases the harvest back at fair trade prices before turning them over to Chef King Phojanakong (chef-owner of Kuma Inn and Tito King’s Kitchen at Jimmy’s 43), who whips up the signature sauce. Made exclusively from serrano peppers, “the goldilocks of peppers,” the Bronx Hot Sauce has only five additional ingredients – apple cider vinegar, garlic, onion, sugar and salt. The proceeds get reinvested back into local programs that benefit the low-income communities in the Bronx.

Earlier this summer, we took a few visits up to the New Roots Community Farm of the International Rescue Committee in the Bronx to watch the peppers get harvested. Some of the workers include Syrian refugees, who have found a new home in the borough.The Bronx Hot Sauce anticipates that it may double local production from last year, potentially up to 70,000 bottles. You can see all the gardens where the peppers grow on the Bronx Hot Sauce website, which include the gardens at the New York Botanical Garden, La Finca Del Sur Urban Farm, the Intervale Green Rooftop Farm, and many more.

The Bronx Greenmarket Hot Sauce can now be found at 30 different NYC outlets and grocers, including the Untapped Cities Shop! Purchase a 7 oz. bottle for $7.95. While most of the sauces available under the Bronx Hot Sauce label are green, you may find a select few in a rare red color – due to an early harvest last year.

New Roots Community Farm of the International Rescue Committee in the Bronx

As you dose your breakfast platter in hot sauce, chomp down happily knowing that each bottle you purchase directly supports low-income communities, the gardens and the green spaces that grow the serrano peppers needed for the magic sauce. Plus, it’s delicious, so why not support a good cause? Scroll down below for more photos of the gardens growing the peppers:

Get a bottle of the Bronx Hot Sauce from our shop!

Next, check out 10 of the Most Unique Urban Farms in NYC.

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