The ongoing heat wave in parts of the country including the West and Southwest regions is being felt on one signature crop in New Mexico--the Hatch chile crop. “Supplies are especially tight for Hatch chile. All of our growers have lost a real appreciable portion of their hot chile with the heat,” says Preston Mitchell of The Hatch Chile Store in Hatch, New Mexico “It causes tip burn and it really really impacts the plants. They’re seeing between 30-50 percent of the yield that’s able to be harvested.”
Ligtenberg says it's strange to see so many red chile pods in the field at this time of year.
The heat wave in New Mexico has been going on for almost a month now. “We’re also still looking at the 10-day forecast and that’s showing another week and a half of triple-digit weather,” says Tiffany Ligtenberg of The Hatch Chile Store, noting yesterday’s weather was set to hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Hatch chile plants particularly thrive in the 90-100 degree range during the day followed by it cooling down at night to around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. “However you hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit and it usually doesn’t get below 80 degrees Fahrenheit at night and they can’t handle that kind of stress,” adds Mitchell.
These high temperatures also impact the rate of production. “Growers are having to slow way down to pick for us right now because they’re trying to leave behind everything that we’re going to grade out. We’re also slower in the shed because we’re grading at a higher percentage even though they’re going so slow,” says Mitchell.
Strong and growing demand
Not surprisingly though, this is leaving strong demand for Hatch chile, a product that also continues to attract growing awareness. Not only does The Hatch Chile Store participate in in-store roasting events which helps raise the profile of the product, it recently introduced a new smaller 1.5-2.5 lb. bag of Hatch chile for consumers. “Those have been a really great introduction point for consumers because instead of it being a big 25 lb. case, they can try a small amount. It’s basically the size of a grape bag with six or 12 pods that are more manageable for someone who hasn’t tried it before,” says Mitchell.
“The best quality chile that’s fresh for the retail market will be coming off in September and early October," says Ligtenberg.
Ligtenberg also notes that the company is continuing to work against the notion that August is the sole Hatch chile month--the month after which some retailers stop with promotional in-store roasting events. “We still have high-quality chile until the end of the season which is usually around the first of November and some retailers are starting to push their seasons past August which is great,” she says. “The best quality chile that’s fresh for the retail market will be coming off in September and early October.”
As for pricing, it is similar to last year at this time with some markets having even lowered pricing than last year thanks to recent drops in freight pricing. “We saw a ton of inflationary pressures last year and this year we’re kind of stable in terms of cost structure but freight has come down,” says Mitchell.
Looking ahead, there is optimism for the second half of the season when more mild and medium varieties of the chile will come off. “If we can get past this tip burn in the next couple of weeks, we should be able to pick back up and get back to where we need to be,” says Mitchell.
For more information:
Preston Mitchell
Tiffany Ligtenberg
Hatch Green Chile
[email protected] [email protected]
www.hatch-green-chile.com