Fruits of New Mexico

From Desert Valleys to Mountain Orchards

New Mexico may be known for its desert landscapes, but its valleys, mountains, and high-elevation orchards produce an extraordinary variety of fruit.

Apples, peaches, apricots, cherries, grapes, and melons have long found a home beneath the New Mexico sun. Their bright, familiar flavors give us another way to connect traditional candy making with the agricultural character of our home state.

We use these fruits as inspiration for taffies, jellies, hard candies, caramels, and seasonal confections—celebrating flavors that are timeless, approachable, and distinctly at home in the Southwest.

Grapes

Centuries on the Vine

Grapes have one of the deepest fruit-growing traditions in New Mexico. Spanish missionaries planted European grapevines along the Rio Grande near present-day Socorro as early as 1629, beginning a viticultural tradition that has endured for nearly four centuries. Rich, juicy, and aromatic, grapes bring a deep fruit character to our Southwestern confections.

Apricots

An Old New Mexico Orchard Tradition

Apricots were growing in New Mexico by the 17th century, becoming part of a long orchard tradition established in the valleys of northern New Mexico. Fragrant, delicate, and honeyed with just the right touch of tartness, their sun-ripened flavor feels perfectly at home in Southwestern candy.

Apples

A New Mexico Orchard Classic

Apples hold a special place in New Mexico’s agricultural history. Grown here since the Spanish colonial era, they later became an important commercial crop, with northern New Mexico developing a particularly strong apple-growing tradition during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Crisp, bright, and familiar, apple brings the refreshing flavor of a New Mexico orchard to every bite.

Cherries

A High-Desert Orchard Favorite

Cherries have been part of New Mexico’s orchard tradition since the Spanish colonial era, thriving particularly in the cooler valleys and higher elevations of northern New Mexico. Their balance of bright sweetness and natural tartness makes them a beautiful expression of the fruit grown among the state’s mountain orchards.

Melons

Ripened Under the New Mexico Sun

Melons arrived in New Mexico during the Spanish colonial period and have since become a natural fit for the state’s sunny, irrigated valleys. Sweet, fragrant, and refreshing, melon captures another side of the Southwest—lush summer flavor grown beneath an extraordinarily bright desert sky.

Peaches

Sweetness from the High Desert

Peaches have been cultivated in New Mexico’s orchard country for generations, particularly throughout the central and northern portions of the state. Warm days, brilliant sunshine, and cool nights help give the fruit its luscious sweetness and unmistakable summer character—an ideal flavor for handcrafted confections.