Mr. Jesus Cardenas Sr. In Memoriam

One of the great leaders in our industry, Mr. Jesus Cardenas Sr. passed away this week. His story is another one of those inspirational entrepreneurial lives that we admire.
Mr. Cardenas migrated to the U.S. from Mexico in the 50's and worked hard as a field laborer. In the 70's him and his wife Luz, began raising pigs in a small piece of land they bought, and in 1981 they opened their first store. They have been growing ever since, and with the help of his children, he built one of the most successful privately-owned companies in the Inland Empire. Cardenas Markets has 29 stores with over 3,000 employees and over $800 million in sales.
But more than the economic success he achieved in his 73 years of life, he left behind, for all of us, a wonderful example of hard work, of care for the customer, and an adherence to the principles of authenticity and good food that makes our business so fun and wonderful. He also built a wonderful family of very smart, hard working and fun loving children, who are very much involved in the business and inherited his work-ethic and his commercial smarts. He also leaves a great legacy in the communities his company served. Cardenas Markets are a pillar of the neighborhoods they serve and their customers love them.
One thing that you can always count on at any Cardenas Markets is finding truly delicious and authentic Hispanic foods, and excellent service in all their departments.
We wish Chuy Cardenas Jr., his son and our friend, Jose, Lupe, George, Dona Luz, and the rest of the family our sincere condolences.

The Inspiring Juvenal Chavez

Juvenal Chavez, CEO of Mi Pueblo Food Center chats with Andres Jaramillo, CEO of Don Pedro's Meat.

The story of Juvenal Chavez is one of those inspiring stories of immigrants working hard and following a dream to make it big in the U.S.
He immigrated to the U.S. with his wife in the 80's, from Mexico and by 1991 he had opened his own small business. 21 years later, his business, Mi Pueblo Food Center is a growing chain with 21 stores, and over 3,000 happy and enthusiastic employees.
Even though he didn't tell us the exact number, he does hundreds of millions of dollars in business, selling the most authentic hispanic products to a very grateful and loyal clientele.
His competitive advantage is the feeling of home and the experience of joy and community he gives his customers when they buy food at his stores. He conveys that through his employees. We got a chance to meet hundreds of them last week, and I was struck by how happy, smiling and beautiful most of them are. They are proud to belong to such a company, and are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their products and their vendors.
Juvenal really knows his products, and he told us how much he loves our cecina seca, which he started buying from us and selling to his customers over 10 years ago. For him it is a staple at his meat counters, that shows his commitment to very authentic products of high quality.
At Mi Pueblo stores you can also buy Salvadorean Chorizo Don Pedro's, and at their "cremerias" they sell Rellena Don Pedro's.
He is a big supporter of education, an inspiring business leader and a great community leader in San Jose, CA.
We love doing business with Juvenal and his team of winners.