Our Story

A Lifetime in the Making

For us, the Chile Mojo story started on our family farm in the 1980's. Growing up on a farm in outback Australia, we didn't realise how lucky we were to have "foodie" parents who were decades ahead of their time. While other kids had standard fare, our garden was overflowing with chiles and ingredients that were impossible to find anywhere else in rural Australia back then.

That passion for bold spice was a gift from our parents. Twenty years ago, our father, Lyall, turned that love into making his own brand of sauces & chutneys, blending our Grandmother’s traditional recipes with his own signature blends to curate his own condiments which were sold at local markets. Taking those learnings from his Dad, Taras then took the reins to grow that legacy, starting Grunds Gourmet which is now a multi award winning condiment business, Australia wide.

Chile Mojo has been stocking Grunds Gourmet for over 15 years, so when the opportunity arose for us to take over Chile Mojo we leapt at the chance.

While Taras has been deep in the Chillihead world for years, Asa brings a different flavour to the mix. An ex-cook turned IT nerd, Asa spent six months travelling from Peru all the way through Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, before hitting the southern food capitals of the USA.

He spent that time in local Mercados, eating authentic street food, obsessing over the real deal. Asa has been a loyal Chile Mojo customer since their first store opened on The Parade. 

Honouring the "MoJo" Legacy

We want to acknowledge the incredible community that Morgen and Joel built over the last two decades. We see it as our responsibility to support this community better than ever before. While we are the new hands at the helm, the heart of the business remains.

You’ll see the same familiar team in the back-of-house, now joined by Taras. Between the two of us, we are tasting and cooking with everything we stock, and constantly testing new suppliers to ensure we bring only the best flavours to our Chileheads here in Australia. We are even upgrading the warehouse right now to accomodate for the new hot sauces, BBQ products, and Latin American staples arriving soon.

Taras & Asa Grund - The 'Chile Mojo' Brothers