About Us

Jeff Fugate grew up in New Mexico, and like most New Mexico natives, he developed an addiction to Hatch Green Chile (HGC). After attending New Mexico State University (NMSU), just 20 miles south of Hatch and deepening his HGC addiction, he moved east and quickly realized that HGC was impossible to find. So, he began his quest to find ways to bring HGC east and introduce it to others. And now, for more than 25 years, he has been making an HGC-based queso and sharing it with people everywhere.

Jeff worked in the events industry for 17 years and that took him all over the world. So far, EBQ has been shared on 4 of the 7 continents. People would often say, “This is the best queso I’ve ever had. You should package and sell it.” In 2020, his job in the events industry was eliminated due to the pandemic, and this created a path to bring the “Joy” of Empty Bowl Queso to the masses and go commercial.  

To share the joy of the Hatch New Mexico Green Chile with the world

To give everyone the opportunity to experience the highest quality of queso