El Paso Chile Company

Description

Back in 1980, fresh out of college and penniless, Park Kerr had an idea - "I had two ladders and a nail-studded two-by-four covered with chile ristras. I think I bought them for 3 bucks in New Mexico and sold them for $15 in El Paso on a street corner." The message was clear - people were hungry for hot stuff.By 1982, Park and his partner, mother Norma, were know as The El Paso Chile Company, and their hand-crafted chile wreaths and ristras graced the covers of the Neiman Marcus and Horchow Collection catalogs. In an attempt to develop a less seasonal business, they created their first gourmet food products with playful names like Snakebite Salsa, Sweet Texas Fire, and Hellfire & Damnation.In the early 90's, Park's brother-in-law and sister, Sean and Monica Henschel, moved to El Paso, joined the company and helped build it into a solidly successful family business. Trend-setters at that time, their product line and original packaging expanded into a line that now proudly boasts 17 dips and salsas, 5 barbecue sauces, 6 condiments, 6 best-selling cookbooks (written by Park), and a dizzying array of imaginative gift, snack and drink mix selections. Recently, as a reaction to his "mid-life crisis," Park began distilling and marketing TEQUILA NACIONAL, a premium, 100% blue agave tequila, a life-time passion.

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