Hot Chili Aficionados Form A Formidable Group
Agriculture|May 2019

SEVEN GROUPS which are involved in one way or another in hot chilies have now formed a formidable front under the umbrella of what Ponchit Ponce Enrile started in 2014 - ChiliHeads Philippines which staged with much fanfare the first Chili Festival that year. They have formed a federation.

Zac B. Sarian
Hot Chili Aficionados Form A Formidable Group

The seven groups include Chili Growers Philippines, Philippine Hot Sauce Club, Sili Wars, Ka Sili, Dabawenyo Capsicum and Labuyo 100. The federation counts on a membership of close to 19,000 strong and still counting.

The CHILI GROWERS PHILIPPINES is the biggest growers’ group today, with more than 11,000 members nationwide. It hosts the pod tasting session during the annual Chili Festival. They also host the Chili Pods Arrangement Competition during the same event. They meet every 3rd Saturday of the month at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife par tea house in Quezon City

The PHILIPPINE HOT SAUCE CLUB is composed of 5,000 processors, both artisanal and commercial, including a few exporters as well as hot sauce enthusiasts. They hold monthly hot sauce parties featuring their Table of Fire. They are the hosts of the Hot Sauce Competition during the annual Chili Fest. The Table of Fire features tasting of different hot sauces, depending on the theme. In the annual Chili Fest, they feature all the hot sauces available from members with about 100 brands and 300 variants.

SILI WARS is a chili growing challenge group that conducts growing contests such as the first to fruit a labuyo plant in an egg shell; first to fruit a chili plant in a Spam can, etc. It also hosts the chili plant competition during the annual fest.

KA SILI is a group of growers dedicated to Super Hot chilies. They have over 1,000 members.

MINDANAO CHILI GROWERS is a group of over 1,000 Mindanao growers and hot sauce makers. They are less than a year old but are now in the final processes of turning their association into a cooperative.

This story is from the May 2019 edition of Agriculture.

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This story is from the May 2019 edition of Agriculture.

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