When Anna Shawver moved from New Mexico to the Pacific Northwest in the mid 1980s, she was left with a deep longing for everything she had taken for granted in her home state. She missed the music, dance, fiestas, food and family gatherings. Some of her favorite New Mexican foods were not available in the Pacific Northwest. Certain chiles, she learned, are indigenous to New Mexico. Unless she packed them and took them with her after a visit or had them shipped after the fall harvest, she had to do without.
She decided not to do without. Shawver made several trips each year to New Mexico and returned with red and green chiles and hoped they would last until her next visit back home. She soon found herself sharing the chiles with friends, family and other New Mexican transplants.
By the 1990’s, she and a few of her family members were renting a local community center to host friends and extended family members at their annual Christmas celebration so friends could enjoy chile, posole, tamales and luminarias which were lighting the pathway to the hall. She also began canning her chile products for friends and co-workers.
After returning to New Mexico in 1996, Shawver’s entrepreneurial spirit emerged and she longed to do something that brought together all the things that were a part of who she is: culture, food, music, traditional recipes and la cocina (the kitchen where her family has gathered for many years). The business and its products began to come together as she found out that she descended from a lineage of entrepreneurs and simple townspeople who understood hospitality and good food.
Soon after starting Apple Canyon Company, she acquired brands Holy Chipotle, LLC, Santa Fe Seasons and Santa Fe Mixes — all family-owned companies located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. These brands had a very loyal following which contributed to Shawver’s success. Her products and recipes are born of a multicultural energy and spirit that took root in New Mexico in the early 1500’s. Some are derived from traditional recipes from her diverse family heritage which includes Native American, Spanish and Mexican to which she’s added more inventive fare. In 2020 Santa Fe Gourmet Coffee and Taste New Mexico Iconic New Mexico Hot Sauces were introduced.
The product assortment, serving suggestions, easy-to-prepare recipes and informative product descriptions make shopping at Apple Canyon Gourmet a simple, enjoyable and taste-tempting experience. Apple Canyon is committed to creating the finest, award-winning gourmet food products. In order to ensure the high quality and consistency of all of Shawver’s products, she still makes them in small batches.
Apple Canyon’s brands have found a place at the tables of many fine resorts and restaurants, gift shops, galleries and grocers throughout the US and in Germany. Shawver has combined equal parts imagination and history with some unique highest-quality ingredients to create an incredible, edible culinary experience.
“I believe the soul of cooking is about enjoying life and celebrating with friends and family,” Shawver said. “From my family to yours, Bien venidos y esperamos que usted nos visitará otra vez. (Welcome! I hope you will visit us again and often.)”