Scarlet BUrn
Boston University's Massachusetts-Grown Hot Sauce
Craic Sauce x Boston University Dining x Boston Food Hub
What happens when Boston University, Boston Food Hub, and Craic Sauce set out to make a hot sauce entirely from Massachusetts-grown ingredients? You get Scarlet BUrn.
Built around the local harvest, Scarlet BUrn combines fermented Massachusetts-grown peppers and vegetables with smoked tomatoes, fresh ginger, Thai basil, and our house-made garlic scape vinegar. The result is a savory, bright, deeply layered hot sauce with a warm heat that builds as you go — made for BU, grown in Massachusetts.
Video - Introducing Scarlet BUrn
The Story of Scarlet BUrn
Meet the Partners
Craic Sauce
The Lowell-based hot sauce makers behind Scarlet BUrn. Craic Sauce brought its fermentation, local sourcing, and sauce-making experience to turn the Massachusetts harvest into something uniquely BU.
Boston Food Hub
The farm connection. Boston Food Hub worked across its network of Massachusetts growers to source the peppers, vegetables, herbs, and other ingredients that made a 100% locally grown sauce possible.
Boston University Dining Services
The spark behind the collaboration. BU Dining committed to bringing a hyper-local hot sauce to campus and worked alongside Craic Sauce and Boston Food Hub to take the idea from concept to dining halls.
BU Students
The culinary collaborators. BU students worked with the team to taste, experiment, and help guide the flavor profile, making sure Scarlet BUrn wasn't just made for BU, but shaped by the people who eat there.
The Collaboration Story
Scarlet BUrn grew from a shared idea between Boston University, Boston Food Hub, and Craic Sauce: what if we could make a hot sauce specifically for BU using 100% Massachusetts-grown ingredients? Building on our single-source approach, we worked with local farms while bringing BU students and alumni into the flavor and design process, creating a sauce that connects Massachusetts farms all the way to the BU dining table.
What's Inside the BUrn
Garlic Scape Vinegar
House-made from Massachusetts garlic scapes.
Fermented Peppers
Cayenne, Hot Portugal, St. Nick, Fresno & Ghost.
Smoked Tomatoes
Golden Beets + Carrots
Ginger + Thai Basil
Heat: 4/10
Flavor: Savory • Bright • Fermented • Gently Smoky • Building Heat
The Label Illustration
The Scarlet BUrn label was illustrated by longtime Craic Sauce collaborator and BU College of Fine Arts alum Mark Steele, who has created more than half a dozen illustrations for our sauces over the years. For this bottle, Mark looks across the Charles River toward the BU campus, with a distinctly Craic Sauce twist: bold vegetable tall ships sailing by, bringing the Massachusetts harvest into the heart of Boston.
Craic Sauce
Scarlet BUrn Bundle
Scarlet BUrn | Boston University Hot Sauce | Craic Sauce
Farm to Bottle to University: Craic Sauce, Boston Food Hub and BU Dining Services Launch 100% Massachusetts-Grown Hot Sauce
Scarlet BUrn, shaped by student tastings and made entirely from local farm produce, debuts in Boston University dining halls
BOSTON, Mass. — October 13, 2026 —
Craic Sauce, a Lowell-based maker of culinary sauces for institutions, today announced the launch of Scarlet BUrn, a hot sauce made entirely from Massachusetts-grown ingredients. The sauce was developed in partnership with Boston Food Hub and Boston University Dining Services. It will be served in BU dining halls and retail locations beginning October 13 and is also available for purchase at Boston University and from the Craic Sauce website.
The collaboration grew out of BU Dining Services’ success sourcing local produce through Boston Food Hub. Craic Sauce, which already supplies institutional kitchens, saw an opportunity to create something new: a sauce and a story made just for Boston University, with every ingredient traceable to a Massachusetts farm.
The recipe took shape over nine months. Craic Sauce held tastings on campus to gather student feedback, met with BU Dining Services’ culinary leadership team, and visited Abrantie Farms to visit the farm and plan for the available produce. The process pushed the team into flavor profiles it had not worked with before.
Boston Food Hub made the sourcing possible. Through the Boston Food Hub, Craic Sauce partnered with Abrantie Farms in Stow, Massachusetts, which grew produce for Scarlet BUrn. That connection gave Craic Sauce access to seasonal, hyper-local produce, with the flexibility to adjust the recipe as the harvest and the flavor direction evolved.
The result is Scarlet BUrn. It starts with a fermented base of peppers, carrots and garlic, adds roasted field tomatoes, and finishes with a handcrafted garlic scape vinegar steeped in young ginger.
“Scarlet BUrn is truly a reflection of BU Dining’s local souring efforts. Our partnership with both a Massachusetts food producer and farm enables us to support the local food system and economy, while also helping to preserve farmland.” said Lexie Raczka, Sustainability Director, Boston University Dining Services.
“This project has been a great example of the impact institutions can have on the regional food system when we collaborate. By developing value-added items that students are interested in we can crop plan and commit to ingredients for the season, which provides stability for growers and offers locally sourced food for institutional partners, year-round.” said Annie Broad, Associate Food Hub Director, Boston Food Hub.
“Having institutional support to create a hyper-local product gives producers and farms the flexibility and creativity to try something new. That made this such a refreshing and fun project and allowed us to take the sauce in a direction that wouldn’t have been possible without the collaboration of all our partners.” said Brian Ruhlmann, Founder, Cook, Craic Sauce.
Scarlet BUrn is available in BU dining locations starting October 13 and can be ordered online at CraicSauce.com
About Craic Sauce Craic Sauce is a Lowell, Massachusetts-based maker of craft hot sauces and culinary sauces rooted in local agriculture. Founded in 2017, Craic Sauce works directly with New England farms to source fresh peppers and produce, using fermentation and creative recipes to turn locally grown ingredients into bold, distinctive sauces. Its products are served in schools, universities, restaurants, and homes throughout the region, with a focus on strengthening connections between local farms, food producers, and the communities they feed. [website]
About Boston Food Hub Boston Food Hub is a wholesale aggregator and distributor of fresh produce, dedicated to supporting local and regional growers by streamlining the process of bringing farmers' most plentiful harvests to the wholesale market with a focus on mission-aligned and institutional customers. The Food Hub works across the supply chain to ensure competitive pricing for farms and affordable pricing for consumers. [website]
About Boston University Dining Services BU Dining Services serves over seven million meals annually, serving students, staff, faculty, and campus visitors across four all-you-care-to-eat dining halls and 24 retail eateries and convenience stores. BU Dining has received national recognition for its sustainability efforts, particularly around waste reduction and sustainable procurement. [website]
Media Contact Brian Ruhlmann [Owner, Craic Sauce] brian@craicsauce.com 978-505-8173