Christopher Creek Spice Co.

Some of Jeremy Cox’s earliest memories are linked to the smell of chili wafting through his grandparents’ cabin. His grandparents bought their property in Christopher Creek when Cox (pictured) was 6 years old. He fondly remembers getting up in the morning and watching his grandfather start the chili while he and his grandmother went off trout fishing along the Mogollon Rim. “We’d come back in the afternoon and walk in the door, and it smelled like chili,” Cox says. “From a young age, I was hooked.”

After Cox’s grandfather died in the late 1980s, his father took over making the chili using the family recipe. And while attending Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Cox would bring Tupperware containers of his family’s spice mix from home and make chili for his friends. The recipe was a hit, and that was how a family tradition became Christopher Creek Spice Co.

“I decided I wanted to share it with the world,” Cox says. “I started off with two chili mixes: the Cabin Chili, which started with my grandpa, and the Green Chili, which is the recipe I created in college.”

Cox says the chili mix is simple and delicious, but the best thing about it is that it’s all natural. There are no fillers or chemicals, just the perfect blend of spices and ingredients people recognize, such as chile pepper, garlic, onion, paprika and cilantro. And the mixes are affordable for families, which is important to Cox. “Each mix makes a big pot of chili that’s enough to feed my family of four that night, and then enough for leftovers the next day,” he says. 

Since starting out with the original two mixes in 2007, Cox has added four flavors he developed himself. The new recipes, in the Beeline Chili line of mixes, bear the Arizona-inspired names Rio Verde Green, Fire Rock Red, Superstition Gold and Four Peaks White. “They’re all a little bit on the spicier side, because I love spicy food,” Cox says. He’s also come up with four grilling meat rubs, along with a spicy heat rub that can be used in everything from pizza to soup. 

Val Yametz has been using Christopher Creek Spice Co. products since around 2008 and says she enjoys the chili mix because it’s the right amount of flavor and spice. But she also uses the rubs, both at home and at her restaurant, Florencia Pizza Bistro. “The taste really stands out, and it’s the only rub I use on chicken,” she says. “We also have the rub on the tables for customers to put on their pizzas for those that want a little kick.” 

Cox says scaling his business has been a learning experience. When he started, he and his mom would hand-mix the spices in a rented kitchen space. Pretty soon, though, they were getting big orders from retailers such as AJ’s Fine Foods, and as the demand increased, Cox had to find the right packaging company and distributor. Currently, Christopher Creek Spice Co. partners with a company in Phoenix for packaging and distribution, but eventually, Cox hopes to fully automate the process while retaining the authenticity of his family recipe.

Sharing that recipe with the community has been gratifying, he adds. “It’s rewarding for me to have people reaching out and telling me, ‘Hey, that was good chili,’” he says. “And now I’m teaching my boys how to cook and use spices, and I’m fortunate that now my family are chili people as well.”

Christopher Creek Spice Co. products are sold at select grocery and specialty stores, including d’Vine Gourmet, Fry’s and AJ’s. They’re also available for purchase through the company’s website.