Cacique Foods, a name-brand company specializing in Mexican-style cheeses, decided to make the move DFW. One year in, they're not regretting it.Cacique Foods was about as California as it comes, having spent nearly 50 years nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. But as the company celebrates“It’s hard to describe how special this place is,” he says from Cacique's new headquarters in Irving.
The “business” is Mexican-style cheeses, cremas, salsas and chorizo. A company that started with one product now makes 75. But to understand why the move to Texas made sense, you need to see where it started, in 1960s Cuba. It might’ve taken hold, had the family not left for Miami in 1971. After years of rationing and empty shelves, Gil de Cardenas walked into an American grocery store for the first time.
When he finished, Gilbert Sr. would go back to clean the factory for the next day. His son gets choked up again, thinking of his dad’s drive. Over the years, Cacique’s products became staples in Mexican bodegas and small markets. The company pioneered vacuum seal packages, allowing its products to stay fresh weeks longer than competitors. But when Cacique tried to expand into the major grocery chains, de Cardenas faced tremendous pushback.
“You have to show them the data, and even then, it’s like ‘Uh, let’s try it. A few stores.’ And then a few more, and a few more, and before you know it you’re in the entire chain," he says. “All the states where we’d have a difficult time shipping to, because of fuel and freight costs," he says."So we decided that we needed to get closer to the market.”