From Mexico to U.S. Consumers' Shelves, Tia Lupita Foods Founder Hector Saldivar Shares Journey Behind His Brand - INTERVIEW

If you've ever found yourself shopping at stores such as Walmart, Publix, Whole Foods or Kroger, you've probably seen those bright-colored bags of cactus chips. Or if you like to spice things up come dinner time, you've probably caught yourself heading to the hot sauce aisle where Tia Lupita Foods products stand out. The company, founded in 2016, has slowly but surely won people over with its innovation and flavor.

With products ranging from cactus-based chips to simple but flavorful hot sauces, Tia Lupita Foods has become a go-to option in the United States for people looking for that authentic, homemade taste.

For Hector Saldivar, founder of Tia Lupita Foods, succeeding in the food industry has taken a lot of sweat and tears. Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, in the 1980s, Saldivar grew up with a mother who was a teacher, and whose face is now the logo of his company, and a father who was a doctor. He initially tried to follow that path by enrolling in medical school, but along the way realized his personality and skills were a better fit elsewhere.

"Me trying to become a doctor was, subconsciously, trying to honor my father and it was me trying to honor someone I admired. Now, did I have the capacity to become a doctor? Hell no. My dad knew that my qualities weren't fit for the medical world and told me I should look into the commercial and service world, and my passion for it grew bigger once I saw that I was good at it," Saldivar recounted in an exclusive interview with The Latin Times.

After following his father's advice, Saldivar entered the food and beverage industry and moved to the U.S. in 2005 to work for a Mexican company called Klass, which specializes in powdered drinks. It was also the first time Saldivar had left home.

"I was 23 when I moved to Sacramento. I always have been independent and been able to sustain myself, so from that aspect it was easy. In the emotional aspect, it was weird because I consider myself to be an introvert. But when I need to be on, I am on. Every day that I was out there selling and talking I would give it my all, looking like an extrovert."

Saldivar decided to follow one of his dreams and launch his own company in 2016. After years of typical startup habits, like making sauces from his own home in the early days, Tía Lupita Foods gained national attention in 2023 after being featured on the TV show "Shark Tank," an opportunity Saldivar says changed the trajectory of the brand.

"Being on Shark Tank, getting an offer from one of the Sharks (Kevin O'Leary) and having the rest of them cheer for you on national television was a pivotal moment for me and a very validating one," Saldivar said, before recounting how tough the journey in the industry has been.

"It's very difficult, and I entered this world under a certain level of ignorance even though I had worked in the food and beverage industry," Saldivar said. "I had never owned my own company and I had never worked from the perspective of operations, logistics, finance. That part for me was the most challenging part: how to plan for production, how to plan for inventory and all those little things."

Saldivar opened up that in many instances he came close to giving up.

"This was a couple of years ago. It came to a point where I was almost writing a letter to my investors letting them know that it had become unbearable. Once you raise money, you have that responsibility. I needed to return this money to the people that entrusted me with it. For me, failure wasn't an option once I took money in."

Although the tough times have been tough, Saldivar says there have also been countless moments that made everything worth it.

"There have been people reaching out, letting us know that our products changed their lives. Every once in a while, seeing someone very famous use our products is really cool too. In one instance, Rihanna picked our habanero hot sauce for a PR campaign to launch her lipstick called Heat. She used capsaicin to plump her lips, so she used our habanero sauce for that. But to me, the most satisfying moment is when my friends or my family see my product. I still remember when my mom saw her face on one of our bottles for the very first time at a store in McAllen, Texas."

When asked about his experience trying to become a successful Latino entrepreneur, Saldivar said the group is still not supported enough.

"It is hard, and Latinos are underrepresented in the market compared to the economic power they have," Saldivar said. "If you put it in economic terms and separated Latinos in the U.S. from the rest of the population, their GDP alone would rank as one of the top five largest economies in the world," he added, noting that despite the impact they have, Latinos remain underrepresented and underfunded.

"But we are also the most entrepreneurial cohort in the United States. A lot of people think that an entrepreneur only applies to someone with a big business or a company. But having a mom-and-pop 'tiendita' also counts as being an entrepreneur. Having a cleaning service or being a contractor — that's also being an entrepreneur."

Another challenge Latino entrepreneurs constantly face, Saldivar said, is prejudice. Something he has experienced firsthand.

"This happened maybe like eight years ago. I was printing sales sheets at a FedEx Office. The phone rang and I was speaking Spanish. And there were two ladies there that did not appreciate it. They literally started yelling at me and saying 'Speak English, this is America' and things like that. I did not know how to react. And you know, I think about that moment often, and I think about what I should have said, but in all honesty I froze, because for a moment I doubted myself. Am I really doing something wrong? It made me doubt a lot of things about my language, about where I was."

Besides creating a successful hot sauce line, Saldivar also wanted to create a chip using an iconic Mexican ingredient that is also one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

"Having that proximity to the U.S., being from a city close to the border, I was surprised at how many people didn't know about cactus or nopales. For us in Mexico, nopales are a staple. My approach was to teach people about nopales, but in a way that makes sense through a sustainability angle. They are one of the most sustainable foods in the world. It grows in the desert, needs little to no water to grow, and it's among the most nutritious as well. I was surprised I couldn't really find cactus-based products here in the U.S., so that's why I started the chip line with cactus as the main ingredient."

True to his personality, Saldivar's optimism carries through to the advice he offers other startups and young entrepreneurs.

"It's ups and downs. When you start a business, you have to celebrate the wins, and unfortunately we don't do it that much. We tend to let the bad times impact us the most, and some people cannot cope with that and decide to throw in the towel."