Our Team

The Founders:

Preston started selling fresh chile through his website when he was 15. With the help of his parents, extended family, and little sister they “bootstrapped” one of the first farm-to-table businesses in the Hatch Valley. We aren’t really sure if he learned through example, or if his entrepreneurial spirit is genetic. His grandparents, Dennis and Patricia Mitchell started the drug store in Hatch, NM in the early 80’s after members of the community called Dennis (a pharmacist) every Tuesday afternoon asking him to move to Hatch and start a pharmacy to serve their community. His parents, Greg and Barbara Mitchell, still run the store and continue to improve the business.

Preston met Elaine (the other founder and coincidentally his wife) while studying at New Mexico State University. Elaine is a farm girl from Mesilla, and loves the rich history that New Mexico has to offer. Her maternal great-grandparents homesteaded in eastern New Mexico, and traveled by covered wagons to make their home in the rugged ranch-land. Her extended family still lives less than a mile from that first homestead. Elaine’s paternal great-grandfather traveled with his wife, Maurine, from Blooming Grove, Texas to Mesilla in the early 1930’s to start a mule barn. He went on to build one of New Mexico’s most successful feedlot operations.

Preston and Elaine started The Hatch Chile Store in college because they had a mutual love: Green Chile! They both enjoy working together, and enjoy finding new ways to bring the best of the Hatch Valley to their customers all over the world.

The Office Gal:

Meet Taylor Mitchell, the Vice President of Operations. Taylor was born and raised in the Hatch Valley and knows entirely too much about Green Chile. She's Preston's little sister and has been working with the Hatch Chile Store since Day 1! She handles everything from wholesale to helping you place an order to giving you information on her beloved hometown. Taylor is currently a student at New Mexico State University and is majoring in Finance and Economics.