Successful Business Thanks to Its Homemade Flavor

Luis Campos Chicas and Reina Medrano, immigrants from El Salvador, found themselves out of a job after 10 years of employment in the food service industry. Frustrated with the uncertainty of their future, they decided to use their combined years of experience, dedication to hard work and their limited savings to embark on one the biggest challenges of their lives: small business ownership. Their dream was to establish a company that would manufacture the "best homemade” salsas, chips, guacamoles, and hot sauce. With limited food processing experience, however, they began selling tortillas in the area in order to establish relationships with those that they hoped would eventually become their customers. Determined to get their company off the ground, their ongoing pursuit led them to an available site in the city of San Pablo, which they would transform into their company’s production facility. Having found a home for their company, Casa Chicas (Little House), Luis and Reina invested long hours in concocting the perfect recipes, developing their initial line of products that have allowed for the continuing success of Casa Chicas. What initially began as a dream for two is now providing employment opportunities to 15 residents from the San Francisco Bay Area. One of their currents goals is to add a retail outlet to their manufacturing facility.