More than 100 years ago, the Franzoy family story began when the great-grandparents of Chris Franzoy, owner of Legacy Fresh LLC, Las Cruces, N.M., immigrated to the U.S. and settled in the small town of Hatch, N.M.
They worked the land clearing the brush and began farming, building what was to become a legacy, Franzoy says.
Irrigation wells were dug by hand, and horses were used to pull plows and till the soil. There were no harvesting machines, automated packing lines or 18-wheelers to move product across the region.
“My great-grandparents had 10 children who worked on the farm growing onions and harvested them by hand and packed them under a shade tree on the farm,” he says. “They would deliver the onions to neighboring towns by horse and buggy.”
And that legacy continued.
“My parents worked hard to provide for my three brothers and I, and from very young ages, we worked alongside helping with harvest and packing,” he says.
A lot has changed since those days.
Today, the operation is known for its Hatch Valley green and red chili peppers — “the world’s greatest chili pepper” — along with Hatch Valley sweet onions and conventional red, yellow and white onions, Franzoy says.
Legacy Fresh was formed in 2024 to sell and market product for Billy the Kid Produce, a brand that has been around since 1979 and has become well known throughout the industry, he says.
Billy the Kid brand Hatch Valley sweet onions are available from June through August.
Legacy Fresh just finished building a 300-truckload cold-storage facility. The new structure provides the option of harvesting ahead of weather conditions, such as extreme heat or rain, and allows the company to pack and ship a more nutritious, better-looking onion and avoid harvest gaps or supply chain disruptions, Franzoy says.
The company’s conventional red, yellow and white onions are packed for retail and foodservice markets out of New Mexico during the summer. Production then moves to Idaho, Texas and back to New Mexico for year-round availability.
Quality of this year’s summer crop should be good, he says.
New Mexico had a mild winter, and spring temperatures were consistently in the high 70s and low 80s, “which is very good for onions.”
Aquifers were able to keep up with water requirements.
“We expect good quality throughout the summer,” Franzoy says.
