August means the aroma of fresh chilies wafting through the air at Harmons Neighborhood Grocer, based in West Valley City, Utah.
The retailer’s 15th annual Chile Roast event will return Aug. 26 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at all 20 Harmons locations, according to a news release. During the one-day chilies sampling event, Harmons customers can sample a selection of made-fresh-in-store and local hatch chilies products, including:
- Beehive Red Butte Hatch Chile Cheese.
- Fire Roasted Chile Pineapple Salsa.
- Fire Roasted Chili Cheese Brats.
- Hatch Chile Cheese Artisan Bread.
- Hatch Chile Cheeseball & Roasted Chile Cheeseball with baguette or crostini.
- Fire Roasted Chile Hummus.
- Salsita Mendoza Salsa with Harmons Tortilla Chips.
Even sooner is the on-site roasting service, called A Taste of Chile Roast, which kicks off Aug. 18 and runs through Sept. 4. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Labor Day during the event, customers can buy a bushel-bag of chilies for $33, available in mild, medium, hot and extra hot varieties. After selecting their chilies, the customer can watch skilled on-site roasters fire-roast their peppers for free. Harmons will also be selling 1-pound packages of roasted chilies for $3.99.
“We love summer because it means chilies are back. For the third year, our A Taste of Chile Roast event is bringing together our community to celebrate the incredible flavor of hatch chilies and other chilie products,” Todd Jensen, executive vice president of sales, said in the release. “I look forward to this annual event that allows us to showcase some of our, and our customers’, favorite hatch chile recipes while providing a fun and engaging experience.”
This year, Harmons ordered about 5,000 bushel bags of chilies for the chilies roast event, which will be roasted in 25 roasters across all Harmons locations. Types of chilies available during the event are Mild New Mexico Hatch, Medium Big Jim, Hot Sandia and Extra Hot Lumbre.
Shoppers can also purchase items on Harmons eShop.
