Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Pacheco.
Hi Maria, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
After moving to the United States, while loving my new home, I was feeling homesick and craving the traditional food from my country, Mexico, and from my family. When I turned to grocery stores to look for a Mexican Salsa, I couldn’t find that fresh, authentic flavor that I was craving for; so I decided to fill that gap, and I created my own line of traditional, authentic, and fresh salsas. They received the love of the community right away. I couldn’t be more excited and happy about it. Along with the love for my salsas, people started asking for more food options as well, so I created a homestyle Mexican Catering menu as well. I wanted to share the love for my culture, roots, and traditions through my food. From there my business has been rewarded with nothing but love and support from the community.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been easy for sure. Navigating in a new career with a very different background and in a new country with a new language brought his challenges definitely; but the motivation and the wish of sharing my culture and traditions kept me going. As a women and Hispanic, when we begun we found a lack of information/support for starting a new business, thankfully that has changed a lot, and currently, there are great resources for women, Latin, and other minorities that wish to start a new business. And then, of course, the Pandemic. Right before the pandemic, the Catering side of the business was very busy, we would have served for up to 300-400 people weekly. All that went away with the start of the Pandemic, those were very uncertain times. We didn’t know if we were going to survive the pandemic. We were nicely surprised that even when the Catering services were gone; the Packaged Salsa business started to grow in grocery stores I think due to people staying and cooking more at home our products were consumed more. Thanks to that our Salsa production increased, and we were able to stay open! It was certainly very challenging times for small business as we all know well.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
As I mentioned before I had no background in cooking (professionally), I went to Dental School in Mexico but moved out of the country shortly after graduated. So, switching careers was challenging but at the same time the most surprising and rewarding choice that life presented to me, and I couldn’t be more thankful and happy about it.
Regarding our food, We specialize in traditional homestyle Mexican foods and salsas. We are known for preparing fresh, all-natural, and from scratch meals and Salsas. Our cooking preserves traditional techniques to honor my roots.
Our Salsas sets us apart from others in that we use only fresh ingredients, all-natural, with no sugar, no vinegar, additives, or preservatives. We make them in small batches to preserve the quality and flavor. It is not your typical Restaurant style or Grocery store salsa.
Our tortilla chips as well are out of this world; they are one of the best sellers at the Farmer’s Market, we sell out every week, and they are one of our proudest creations!
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Speaking of my business, with now more than 40,000 bottles of Salsa produced and so many prepared meals servings so far, the fact that I have been able to reach to so many people and share with them a taste of my culture and getting back the amazing feedback fills my heart and that to me is a big success already.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cilantroartisan.com
- Instagram: cilantro_artisan_foods/Instagram
- Facebook: cilantro artisan foods/Instagram
Image Credits
Food Seen
Ahlora Gartland Photography
