Chile Heads Take Note: Hatch Chile Season is Heating Up
July 14, 2026 | 3 min to read
ANAHEIM, Calif. (July 13, 2026) – Every summer, there’s a short window to buy fresh, certified-authentic Hatch chile peppers. Frieda’s Branded Produce is known for being the first to alert retailers and chile fans before the heavenly hot aroma of roasted Hatch chiles fills the air. Let this be your official notice.
The week of July 13 will be the first shipment of Fresh Hatch Chiles shipping to retailers across North America. With Hatch Chile sales growing over 22% year-over-year in 2025, Frieda’s is anticipating another successful summer focused on driving client sales and inspiring shoppers to enjoy this seasonal darling in easy and delicious ways. Seasonal in-and-out items like Hatch chiles create excitement in the produce department, and they create sales spikes for Hatch-flavored items across the store.
“Hatch season is one of those rare moments when shoppers come to the store looking for a specific item, and they buy big when they find it,” says Alex Jackson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Frieda’s Branded Produce. “Hatch Chiles give retailers a built-in traffic and basket driver at the peak of summer, causing a halo effect across the whole department. Our job is making sure our partners have the supply and the story to make the most of a short window.”
Driving produce department sales with Hatch chile season:
Cross-merchandising with fresh corn, locally grown tomatoes, and other ingredients that fill the grill helps to further increase basket size. Frieda’s recommends including cooling items into cross-merchandising displays, like Hulas® or Sillies® Ready-to-Drink Coconuts, Honey Dragon® fruit and summer melons. For retailers who have chile-lovers in their stores, this is a great time to cross-merchandise with other favorites, like Quick Fires® shishito peppers, fresh ghost peppers and Frieda’s line of Pepper Players™.
Zesty, smoky and grown only in New Mexico’s Hatch Valley, the bold, buttery flavor of the Hatch pepper makes chile heads go wild. They taste like nothing else, and because there’s only one region that can produce them, Hatch chiles have earned a following. Perfect for enchiladas or chopped in salsas, sauces, chili, tamales, stews and dips, Hatch chiles have a tasty mystique that’s grown through their cult following, in-store Hatch chile events and reputation as a prime pepper for roasting. When you turn up the temp on a Hatch chile pepper, they take on a sweet and smoky richness that deepens the flavor. Fans usually buy in bulk to roast, peel and freeze to enjoy year-round.
This season, Frieda’s is executing in-store and digital marketing campaigns designed to help shoppers grab their annual Hatch stash. Pack formats include 25-pound cases, along with 1-, 2- and 3-pound pouches of mild to extra-hot.
Hatch chile pepper season is from late July through September. Frieda’s supply is strong early in the season, but the short availability has a way of slipping by. Clients who want to be a part of Hatch chile season should place their orders now. Contact your Frieda’s account manager or visit friedas.com to lock in Hatch chile pepper supplies.
About Frieda’s Inc.
Frieda’s Branded Produce has inspired new food experiences for friends, families, and food lovers everywhere since 1962. From kiwifruit and dragon fruit to Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes and habanero peppers, Frieda’s has introduced more than two hundred unique fruits and vegetables to the U.S. marketplace. Founded by produce industry trailblazer Dr. Frieda Rapoport Caplan, the subject of the 2015 documentary “Fear No Fruit,” the female-founded company is a subsidiary of Legacy Farms LLC, based in Anaheim, California. Find Frieda’s on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok @FriedasProduce and Friedas.com. Inspire. Taste. Love.