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.

Azusa Pacific University does a case study on Don Pedro's

Professor B. Strother's International Business Class at APU did a case study about our company, on how to take our products and brand to six international markets. At the beginning of the semester they invited me to talk to their class about our company, our business philosophy, our products, entrepreneurship and the market for hispanic foods in the U.S. Last week they invited me again to listen to their presentations and their ideas about how to take our company and our products to other countries. I walked out of that class with six marketing plans choke-full of great ideas and an irrespressible optimism for the new generation of talent coming up. I really can't wait to see this generation become the new consumer and the new working force. They are technologically savvy, they are smart consumers, they are informed, creative, and deep down a really happy generation. They are very adventurous when it comes to trying new things, new ideas, and most importantly, new flavors!

In this picture Jillian Joyce, Elisa Morales and Danielle Trubac's team were proposing expanding with a fleet of food trucks in Australia.

As a culinary entrepreneur, one thing that keeps me up at night is not only how am I going to keep up with this generation's expansion of tastes but at the same time how am I going to stay technologically connected with them. Culinary innovation is a really fun part of my job, and it is hard work. Now add to that the need to innovate also how we do business with our young customers, and you have a really interesting entrepreneur's challenge. Talking to these students is like drinking from a hydrant. Maybe the simple solution is to just hire a bunch of them, and let them do their thing.....

Sopes and Huaraches

We are very proud this week about the launch of our new line of Sopes and Huaraches. They are delicious and Connie and Diana are already working on awesome recipes that several magazines have asked us to submit. If you have any ideas, please, please, please, send them to us.

Several Chefs in America, like Rick Bayless, and in Mexico use huaraches to put chorizo on top and make a delicious dish. If you prefer to make your own huaraches, here is a good recipe: http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=115. But of course if you want something as good as home-made, without going through all that trouble, just ask your local gourmet store to supply you with our huaraches and sopes.

Thanksgiving in Latin America

One of my favorite Chefs in Latin America is Gustavo, my father. His style is very original and he assures me that 90% of his success is the quality of the fresh ingredients he uses. We both share this essential philosophy about food. This holiday I packed the family and we traveled to South America to celebrate thanksgiving with him. The spirit of the celebration was American: we gave thanks for the many blessings in our lives, but the menu was very Latin and eclectic. Gustavo made an outstanding baked red snapper and  wondefully juicy, tender pork ribs while my wife and I made a simple and delicious pork loin with herbs. We toasted with South American wines (a Chilean Errazuris Pinot Noir and an Argentinean Addagio Reserva Malbec).

 We spent the rest of the week researching the wonderful flavors of the different Colombian chorizos and researching some very interesting spices for sausages. I'm bringing back some great ideas to the plant from this trip.

UCLA students exploring specialty food in Los Angeles

UCLA graduate students exploring Specialty Foods in Los Angeles came over yesterday to chat. We had a very fun conversation about great food, and they saw how we make our recipes. We shared stories about life in Oaxaca and Paraguay (they were quite the travelers and adventurers), they took back some salsa and Cecina Seca to share with their classmates and roommates and I even got Diana Denham, a vegetarian, to taste our Dried Beef...She was embarrassed to like it so much (her words). We won't hold it against her, and I think she will enjoy our Vegetarian chorizos without any guilt. Shoshana Krieger seemed more reasonable (I'm sorry, but there is something unreasonable about vegetarians), and I am sure she is now enjoying a cold cerveza with the Cecina Seca con Chile she took. Both have very interesting lives and both are very intelligent and curious about great specialty food in Los Angeles. I can't wait to read what else they discover in their quest for excellent foods and to read their great reviews about our products.

Dia de los muertos

 

Gustavo, our parrilla expert, came over this weekend to cook some amazing chorizos outside the bodega. We had a feast for forty including the families for day of the dead.

Chorizos are getting ready for packaging!

 

This is our number one selling product and we love it!