From seeds to harvest and processing, every step on the New Mexico chile’s journey adds flavor and nuance.

(Deming, NM) OCTOBER 2024 -Consumers are looking for "high-impact tastes with strong regional associations," according to the Kerry Group's 2024 Taste Trends ; New Mexico-grown chiles are perfect for sourcing these flavors. New Mexico chiles have such a strong signature flavor and relevance that the official state question of New Mexico is "red or green," because the state's spicy delicacies—red and green chiles— significantly impact the state's culture, cuisine and economy. For manufacturers and food service professionals, the distinction between red and green chiles is paramount to creating the vibrant flavors consumers are looking for. Below, Best in the West founder Marshall Berg breaks down the differences between harvesting and processing of red and green chiles.

For starters, "a lot of people don't know that New Mexico's famous red and green chiles come from the same plant," said Marshall. With heritage New Mexico chile varietals, farmers pick all of the green chiles they can during harvest, and the rest they let ripen on the vine until they turn red. Each stage of a chile's development requires a different processing technique that contributes to the unique flavor profile of the red and green chile sauces you'll find throughout New Mexico.
Here is Marshall's guide to red and green chiles:

• Green Chile- Green chiles are picked when they are still immature. At this point, the skin has an undesirable flavor so processing begins with flame roasting and hand-peeling process. Green chile tastes fresh, a little smoky, and has a spice that builds slowly from the inside out.

• Pinto Chile—Before New Mexico chiles turn from green to red, they go through a very short period where they appear brown and maintain the most flavorful aspects of green chile, but take some of the sweetness of red chile. Pinto chiles are farmers' favorites, but they are not available commercially because of their narrow harvest window.

• Fresh red chile (a.k.a. wet red chile)—These chiles are picked just when they turn red and are fresh roasted or blanched and turned into a sauce. These peppers are sweet but when roasted have a smokiness that adds a delectable complexity. In southern New Mexico these chiles are blanched and peeled to make into a fresh red puree and is the base of much of the red enchilada sauce in Las Cruces and surrounding areas.

• Dried red chile— Red chiles can be broken into tiny pieces and made into a powder. When done right, dried red New Mexico chile delivers a velvety earthy flavor.

• Sun-dried chile—When left to ripen in the sun, red chiles take on a brighter, more tangy flavor.

• Oven-dried chile—Oven-drying red chiles offers a smoky warmth that creates a flavor similar to roasted green chiles.

Quality control throughout the production process is essential to creating flavors that meet the standards of culinary professionals and manufacturers alike. "Roasted Green chile is almost automatically delicious; with red chiles, they need to be prepared just right to open the wonderful, complex flavors," Marshall said. This nuance is why Best in the West places so much care into their entire production process from contracting specific varieties with farmers to harvest, processing, and quality control. Best in the West provides "some of the freshest red chile purée on the market," added Marshall.

Best in the West creates award-winning products with both green and red chiles, but there have been some challenges. Many farmers are now only growing green chiles, because of market conditions (many brands now source their red chiles from Mexico) and seeds—new varietals have thicker meat, which makes them only suitable for green chiles. Otherwise, they can rot or mold before they dry. Because Best in the West uses both red and green chiles and places great importance on sourcing New Mexico-grown chiles, they contract out heritage varietals (Marshall also prefers the flavors of these varietals). They work very closely with farmers to ensure each harvest provides the best flavors to Best in the West products.
Best in the West's award-winning chile products utilize both red and green chiles. Their lines include Santa Fe Olé's line of chile sauces: Red chile sauce, extra roasted green chile sauce, late harvest green chile sauce, green chile sauce, and roasted red chile sauce; and Los Roast's chile products: New Mexico green chile lumbre, New Mexico green chile, New Mexico red chile, New Mexico green chile sauce, and New Mexico red chile sauce. Best in the West foodservice products include diced green chile, green chile salsa — 25 lbs & 1 gallon, green chile salsa — 25 lbs & 1 gallon, roasted red chile — 25 lbs & 1 gallon, red chile purée — 25 lbs & 1 gallon, chipotle in adobo purée all available in 25 lbs and 1 gallon sizes.
All Best in the West Hatch chiles are New Mexico-grown, most on fifth and sixth-generation farms. The company's purpose-built facility utilizes automated processing equipment to achieve authentic products at scale. Their process is informed by over a decade of seeking out the best solutions for roasting, storage, and transportation. Best in the West's facility does not process products containing allergens or potential GMO ingredients.
Best in the West's retail products are distributed through santafeole.com and losroast.com, and in retail stores such as Bristol Farms, Nugget, New Seasons, and PCC. Both brands are distributed nationally by KeHe and UNFI.
Learn all about Best in the West at bestinthewestbrands.com, Santa Fe Olé at santafeole.com and Los Roast at losroast.com.


About Best in the West
Best in the West is bringing the traditional flavors of New Mexico from family farm to table. Their traditional New Mexico chiles are sourced from fifth and sixth-generation family farms in and around the famous Mesilla Valley. Their proprietary roasting and peeling techniques preserve the authentic flavor and heat of the chile before it's diced and packaged. Best in the West is the first company to supply farm-fresh, shelf-stable chiles of superior quality to restaurants and manufacturers, who can use them to add an authentic, versatile, smoky flavor to a wide variety of dishes. Best in the West's farm-fresh, packaged chiles are shelf stable for 18 months and can be delivered from New Mexico to any restaurant or manufacturing facility without a cold chain. More information at bestinthewestbrands.com.