A Pantry Built Around Chile

JOHN “CAJOHN” HARD likes to call Zia Chile Traders a reincarnation—but it’s really the latest chapter in a lifetime devoted to chile. “Our very first food show was the Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show, in Albuquerque, back in ’97,” Hard says. “We fell in love with the industry, and we fell in love with New Mexico.” After decades running CaJohn’s Fiery Foods out of Columbus, Ohio, John and his wife and business partner, Sue, moved to Las Cruces in 2019, drawn by southern New Mexico’s food. When Covid derailed their retirement plans, the Hards returned to what they do best. “We based our new line on having Hatch chile in every product,” John says. “The flavor is just a lot deeper,” explains Sue. Today, they produce 80 small-batch sauces, salsas, and seasonings across several lines, including a Borracho Black Cherry Barbecue Sauce and a Green Chile Apple Pie Salsa. The Hards have earned hundreds of awards over the years, including a coveted Scovie win for their Posole Verde Salsa—a recipe that reflects John’s chile-first philosophy. “A lot of people make a verde sauce with tomatillos and then try to shoehorn chile into it—we flip that,” John says. “I always make chile the star.”