FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Writer: Brandon Larrañaga
Contact: Kristie Garcia
Director of Public Affairs, New Mexico Department of Agriculture
krgarcia@nmda.nmsu.edu
Office: 575-646-2804
Cell: 575-339-5011
May 11, 2022
The Fresh Chile Co. brings home the gold at SIAL America trade show
New Mexico Department of Agriculture exhibit featured company praised for new freeze-dried chile product
LAS CRUCES – The Fresh Chile Company (Co.) was awarded the 2022 Gold Innovation Award at the SIAL (French for Salon International de l’alimentation) America trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada in March. The Las Cruces-based company received the accolade for its new freeze-dried Hatch chile product. The Fresh Chile Co. attended the trade show as part of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) exhibit, which also featured New Mexico companies Stahmanns Pecans and Navajo Agricultural Products Industry. The food and beverage industry trade show featured hundreds of exhibitors from various countries and industries across the world.
“We are so honored to receive the first-ever SIAL America Innovation Award for our freeze-dried Hatch chiles,” said Randy McMillan, owner of The Fresh Chile Co. “It was a blessing and an honor to not only attend this event for the first time, but to come home with this award.”
McMillan and his wife, Carol, founded The Fresh Chile Co. in homage to his father, who engrained a love of homemade chile products in McMillan’s home from an early age. Their practice centers around the fact that they use fresh chile to create their product instead of dried powder or dried chile pods. Their freeze-dried Hatch chile product is one of the newest additions to their company’s vast repertoire, and one that has been received very successfully so far.
“The flavor, texture and color are better than that of frozen chile,” said McMillan about the new freeze-dried product. “You don’t have to store it in a freezer. Its weight is almost zero, so shipping is easier, and the quality of the product is the best. Most people find freeze-dried food to be bland, so our goal is to bring the flavor to the market with our new product, and so far, the customers have been receptive.”
SIAL America is the first food and beverage trade show hosted in the United States by the company since SIAL was founded in 1964. The first show took place in Paris, where exhibitors from 26 different countries participated. Since then, the organization has hosted trade shows for food processing industries in major cities across the world, including Shanghai, Abu-Dhabi, Toronto and more.
Over 16,700 exhibitors from more than 119 countries participate in SIAL shows around the world annually, attracting attendees from over 200 nations. As winner of the 2022 Gold Innovation Award, The Fresh Chile Co. will continue to exhibit at future global SIAL events, reaching an audience of over 700,000 people and continuing to promote New Mexico agriculture on a global scale.
The Fresh Chile Co. is a member of the NEW MEXICO–Taste the Tradition®/Grown with Tradition® logo program. The program exists to identify homegrown and -made New Mexico agriculture products and promote them as such. Logo program members are celebrated and emphasized across the state for their history steeped in family traditions. Over 300 members have joined the logo program since it was founded in 2000.
Visit The Fresh Chile Co. website to learn more about their chile products, view recipes and more. To learn more about the NEW MEXICO–Taste the Tradition®/Grown with Tradition® logo program and its participating members, or to become a member, visit the NMDA Marketing and Development Division website or email tastethetradition@nmda.nmsu.edu.
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