KRQE-TV: New Mexico lawmaker joins with Hatch chile producers against mislabeling

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KRQE) – It’s a New Mexico staple. Every year farmers harvest thousands of tons of chile and and every year, the industry brings in hundred of thousands of dollars for the state. Yet, some companies are capitalizing off New Mexico’s good name. Now, lawmakers are stepping in to put it to a stop.

The word “hatch” is known around the world. Thousands gather for their annual festival and chile enthusiasts recognize the word as a standard for quality, but these days, you can’t always be sure you’re getting the real deal.

“It’s a big part of what brings in people to New Mexico in the first place,” said New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich.

Hatch Chile has been making New Mexicans proud for generations. Known for its flavor and heat, it’s an ideal condiment. Yet, not all chile is as it seems.

“This is an issue we’ve been fighting here in New Mexico for the last 25 years or more,” said Hatch Chile Store Founder Preston Mitchell.

Mitchell is talking about mislabeled Hatch chile. He says it’s a big problem and a serious threat to farmers.

“They’re able to buy chile for $100 a ton less coming out of Mexico. That’s significantly more than the margin on a ton of chile, so they’re able to buy chile at below a local farmer’s cost from Mexico and if they can turn around and brand it as a New Mexico product or a Hatch product and they’re able to charge the same amount at market, it just destroys the demand for actual American grown,” explained Mitchell.

Mitchell and others on the Hatch Chile Association Board took the issue to court. They don’t believe consumers should have to gamble on where their Hatch chile comes from.

“To certify Hatch chile such that you can only advertise chile, Hatch chile, if it’s grown in a specific growing area around Hatch,” Mitchell said.

The group has a gripe with a company marketing its chile as Hatch even though they no longer operate out of New Mexico. Now, a New Mexico lawmaker is speaking out too.

“We want to make sure that we have a set of rulings that supports the idea of locally geographic chile,” Heinrich said.

Heinrich says he wants to see more honesty in labeling and says he’s proud of what growers are doing to protect their name.

While Mitchell says they appreciate support at the federal level, he argues their best defense are the laws already on the books meant to protect against false advertising.

“I think there just needs to be a little more enforcement,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell says there aren’t a lot of avenues for businesses to combat others lying about their product. That is, unless they take them to court, which they’ve already done. People ask for it by name.

We reached out to the Hatch Chile Company, the business named in the particular case filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. Their Vice President of Sales and Marketing, David Gregory, says the owner of the company did move to Georgia but he says the majority of their products still come from New Mexico. Plus, they say they are strong supporters of the chile industry here. Their plant is in Deming. Gregory maintains that to accuse them of false advertising is a distortion of the truth.