Round 2: Catching up with Hector Saldívar of Tia Lupita Foods

Today I’m welcoming back Hector Saldivar, founder of Tia Lupita Foods. I last spoke to Hector in November of 2020, and I’m excited to find out how he and his company have progressed since then.

Tia Lupita Foods are inspired by Mexican recipes from Hector Saldivar's Mom and her family kitchen. Their flavorful sauces and snacks use healthy, sustainable ingredients, and Tia Lupita was the first company to introduce nopales (the highly sustainable Mexican prickly pear cactus) to the U.S. market.  The four product lines currently produced by Tia Lupita are hot sauce, tortillas, tortilla chips, and salsa macha.  They focus on cutting out preservatives, using gluten-free ingredients, no sugar, and very little salt. Tia Lupita is “On a mission to help save the world, one taco at a time."

In our discussion, you’ll hear what has been happening since we spoke last, pandemic challenges with shortages of ingredient supplies and glass for bottles, and most recently the scarcity of sunflower oil because of the war in Ukraine. Hector will explain some of the tips and tricks that they employed to get people to buy their products during a time when in-person sampling was not happening, and he shares his thoughts and experiences with fundraising, investors, and crowdfunding.

The “NexxtLevel Brands Podcast’ is hosted by G. Steven Cleere, Founder and “Chief Pot Stirrer” of NexxtLevel Brands. This show focuses on disruptors and thought-leaders from the Entrepreneurial Food, Beverage, and CPG Industry, but we also share tips from veterans and key suppliers that may help fellow CPG professionals achieve their goals.

Discussion Points

• The latest updates since November 2020
• Supply chain issues during pandemic - Ingredients/logistics issues in 2022, 2021 had glass shortages, recently no Ukraine sunflower oil
• Hector’s initial vision only included hot sauce, but now, with a channel and consumer strategy still the same, there are four different lines – hot sauce, tortillas, tortilla chips, salsa macha
• Biggest hurdle - money/investors
• Tia Lupita’s funding challenges - you need a capable team to run things while you raise money. Pre-seed, seed round, crowdfunding (it’s so positive because it’s always a yes)
• Background on Tia Lupita - she’s my mom, but she’s YOUR tia…shipped Hector care packages with her family hot sauce
• Reading labels is now the norm - tired Mexican legacy brands were not keeping up in the U.S. retail market
• Selling to 4-5 different buyers for the product lines
• New lines in the future? Not right now. We are in 4000+ stores. We need to streamline our distribution
• The challenges of sampling during the pandemic -using influencers on social media, reviewing sampling services, giving free products to store staff in one account that was struggling - they are now Tia Lupita’s biggest cheerleaders
• Words to Grow By: lift as we rise, thrive to survive

Resources:

Tia Lupita Website

Hector Saldivar on LinkedIn

NexxtLevel Brands Website

1. Steven Cleere LinkedIn