Hot Sauces, locally grown peppers, and granola?  Yes Please!

The Butterfly Bakery of Vermont was founded in 2003 by Claire Georges. From humble roots baking and delivering cookies to shops in her community, Claire worked steadily to grow the business. She had her first permanent kitchen in 2007, and by 2014 had hired her first employees. It was around this time that the idea of creating hot sauces came about.

The Butterfly Bakery was a regular offering their baked goods at local farmer’s markets where trading with farmers for leftover produce was routine. Claire ended up with a lot of chili peppers and the idea for hot sauce was born. She made small batches to begin with and they were an instant hit with customers. Hot sauce was in demand and Claire was making recipes people loved. The first order for chili peppers came in at 800 lbs and made hot sauce that sold through that first winter. The following year was 2500 lbs and increased year by year until Butterfly Bakery’s hot sauces moved into local stores as well. 

This year they needed 100,000 lbs to meet the demand for their delicious and popular hot sauces. Claire is proud that all of their chili peppers are grown on farms within 200 miles of the cannery in Barre, Vermont and she says, “we are the number one purchaser of Vermont chili peppers in the world.” Claire is passionate about the business she has built and takes responsibility for creating products with quality local ingredients and creating a workplace that supports her employees and customers. 

The Butterfly Bakery is excited to welcome customers in-person to their new shop in Barre, VT. Stop by and browse their extensive hot sauce line, grab some merch, or pick up tasty baked goods. The shop is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM. If you aren’t able to visit in-person, the online shop is a great option for scoring their famous hot sauce, and 5% of the proceeds go to the Vermont Food Bank. Currently their “Genersaucity”, the hot sauce chosen to donate a portion of the proceeds, is the Ghost Verde Pickle. This hot sauce features the Lester Farms green jalapenos and benefits the World Central Kitchen. 

Craft Beer and Spirits enthusiasts will be thrilled to know that The Butterfly Bakery Hot Sauces have a line highlighting Vermont favorties. The Heady Pepper is a medium heat hot sauce made with The Alchemist’s Heady Topper IPA. The line also includes two other medium heat hot sauces, the Vienna Lager Mustard featuring Von Trapp Vienna Lager, and the Maple Rum Chipotle hot sauce with Eastman Long & Sons pure Vermont Maple Sugar, and St. Johnsbury Distillery Maple Rum. Finally, the hottest in the line is the Habenaro Lime Switchback made with Switchback Ale and lime. With such delicious flavors there is something for everyone at The Butterfly Bakery whether it be adventurous hot sauces or sweet treats!