‘Hawaiian Riptide’: Couple’s sauce blends hola with aloha

You might not expect a sauce called Hawaiian Riptide to be made in Las Cruces, but it is. And you might not expect a Las Cruces husband and wife with respective backgrounds in martial arts and photography (and a shared love of scuba diving) to be its full-time creators and marketers with the help of nearly 30 friends and relatives helping out, but they are.
“Follow what you believe in your heart,” said Ray Lucero, who co-founded Hawaiian Riptide with his wife, Sue, in 2017 and produced their first bottle of “Heritage” marinade and sauce in January 2018.
Two years later, the couple has added “Hola Aloha” marinade and sauce, featuring Hatch green chile, to their product list, and they have more unique flavors in development, including red chile, which is the next one in line for production.
“You can use it on anything,” Ray said about each of Hawaiian Riptide’s flavors. Its unique blend of the islands and the Southwest compliments everything from meat, poultry and fish to salad dressing and salsa, he said.
The Luceros have even found it delicious in draft beer, and Let Them Eat Cake bakery (1001 E. University Ave., Suite D4 in Las Cruces) has included the Heritage flavor in a cupcake recipe.
The Luceros are also trying it out as a flavoring for jerky, and Sue is taking wine appreciation and brewing science classes at New Mexico State University to help the couple incorporate their product into wine.
“It’s a whole new language I’m trying to learn,” Sue said.
Ray and Sue met at a scuba-diving class in Las Cruces. He’s a native and a graduate of Las Cruces High School. She moved here at age five and graduated from Mayfield High School. They’ve been together for 20 years and married – in Hawaii – in 2006.
Ray and Sue came up with the idea for Hawaiian Riptide during their travels around the world, eating local food and embracing local cuisine, Sue said. They particularly enjoy the foods and flavors of the Hawaii Islands and began experimenting with their own creations.
“What if we bottled it?” Sue said they asked each other one day. “That might be fun!”
Both were busy with other careers, she said, and it was “completely ridiculous for us to be pursing this. Like we need something else to do!” But everyone they shared their sauces with loved them, Sue said, and “It just stuck with us.”
“It’s God’s dream,” Ray said. “God always has a bigger plan.”
Today, the Luceros are pursuing Hawaiian Riptide full time. Ol’ Gringo Chile Company of Las Cruces does the bottling for the Luceros, who hope to have their own production facility soon. They already have team tee shirts and they’re adding branded cooking equipment.
“It’s our baby, and we want to grow it and see where we can take it,” Sue said.
The Lucero team of nearly 30 people helps to come up with ideas for new flavors and products.
“They always take care of us, so later on we will take care of them,” Ray said. “We love our team.”
The entire group is also using Hawaiian Riptide as a way to give back, with a goal of “impacting communities around the world,” Sue said. The Luceros are strong supporters of the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund, with $1 from the sale of each Hawaiian Riptide bottle and $10 from each gallon going to the fund.
The company even got an online shoutout from DeGeneres late last year. Sue and Ray encourage members of their team to select their own charities to eventually benefit from Hawaiian Riptide profits.
You can find out “how to riptide,” as the Luceros and their team like to call discovering new ways to use their sauces, on their website, https://hawaiianriptide.com/, where you will also find their products. Heritage and Hola Aloha can also be found locally at Save Mart (495 N. Valley Drive), Toucan Market (1701 E. University Ave.), New Mexico Vintage Market (2310 Avenida de Mesilla in Mesilla) and Andele! Restaurante (1950 Calle del Norte in Mesilla).