America’s mission-based hot sauce company, Small Axe Peppers, is proud to announce the appointment of Daniel Fitzgerald as its new President & CEO. Daniel is succeeding John A. Crotty who will become Chairman. As part of his new role, Daniel will embark on a cross-country Community Gardens Awareness Tour to highlight the people, places and partners who make up the Small Axe community. Along the way, he will document his journey and share it on the brands’ social media channels.
Daniel will be visiting 80 gardens, in 58 towns, in 24 states across America. Small Axe Peppers, a Certified B Corporation, has donated more than 9000 seeds to these gardens in 2023. The seeds will act as starters for hot pepper plants to be used in Small Axe Peppers’ unique offerings of hot sauce flavors.
“Since the beginning, our brand philosophy has been ‘we are alike my friends that we are unalike’ – essentially, each garden represents a small regional piece of America,” said Daniel Fitzgerald. “Each story reflects our uniqueness as well as our similarities, despite the obvious differences in geography, color, socioeconomic and culture. The goal of the Community Garden Awareness tour is to highlight all the areas we work together and how excellent that work is, every day.”
As part of the Community Gardens Awareness Tour, the brand is launching a companion series called #IAMSMALLAXE. This online series will demonstrate the profound impact of purchasing Small Axe Peppers hot sauce by sharing the stories behind the peppers. All the people who make up the Small Axe community – the gardeners, retailers, chefs, and customers – will be front and center. The purpose of the series is to show how everyone is a small axe fighting for healthier food, greener cities, and a greater sense of community.
“COVID has had a real impact on businesses all across the world and ours was no different,” said John A. Crotty. “But our economic model, like this country, is resilient. Daniel’s tour will demonstrate this toughness, while reinforcing the importance of community gardens, and encouraging people to support these gardens with just a trip to the supermarket.”
Founded in 2014, Small Axe Peppers has been dedicated to promoting sustainable and healthy eating practices by partnering with community gardens across America. To date, despite the difficulties of the last two seasons, Small Axe Peppers has purchased 33,040 pounds (16.5 Tons) of peppers worth $91,600. This money provides resources to the gardens and helps keep these vital institutions alive so they can continue to make a positive change in the world around them.
Food Celebrities Love Us!
“I could literally drink this stuff!” Rachael Ray “The tastiest sauce we have ever had on this show.” Sean Evans, host of “Hot Ones” “Nice balance of spice.” Alton Brown
About Small Axe Peppers
It all started in The Bronx! The Bronx Hot Sauce was born in the spring of 2014 when Small Axe Peppers donated serrano pepper seedlings to five community gardens in the Bronx. The following year, based on their initial success, twenty additional gardens asked to participate. Together, they collectively grew almost a ton of serrano peppers in 2015, and a new economic model for urban farming was born! A Certified B Corporation, Small Axe Peppers has expanded its model to 15 cities across America and purchased locally-grown peppers from more than 75 community gardens. More and more gardens ask to participate each year and we want to work with all of them! Small Axe Peppers was founded by John A. Crotty and John Fitzgerald. Through their professional and personal experience, they understood that building communities cannot be done with just bricks and mortar. In order to be successful, communities are built by people working together.
