In the summer of 2015, the Founder of Las Americas Group, John Bernardino, saw there was a need in the food distribution market of which he could easily fill. As food preparation and healthy lifestyles adapted to the “millennial generation,” John took the opportunity to capture a whole new segment of the market. From the early onset of Las Americas Group, John wanted to bring his familiarity of Mexican-style food preparation and combine it with the trends of sustainable, non-GMO, organic, gluten-free foods. From there, his niche of traceable Mexican American fusion foods was born.
When John opened the doors of Las Americas Group in 2015, he saw a shift in market trends. He noticed that all foods were being packaged with new “sustainable” branding. Most of the foods he went to purchase had marketing of non-GMO or KETO friendly. “Trends were changing and millennials were driving it,” John said.
John didn’t want to lose this opportunity to get into the market, and as such, he reached out to his business contacts in Mexico and other countries to see if they could help. The goal started with procuring the highest-quality raw materials and creating a traceable supply chain. Through the course of this, the company was not only able to source these materials, but also modernize the process of Mexican American fusion, making the supply chain more abundant and easier.
Las Americas Group then sought out to educate their clients on what makes the best foods pairings and what end-users are looking for, all while providing them with premium ingredients. The company is so confident in the quality of their ingredients that they offer guarantees on all their products, a rarity in the food industry.
“You have no idea how hard it was to create a gluten-free Chile Relleno!” John exclaimed. “Sourcing these ingredients was extremely difficult, but we did it,” John went on to say. Not only did John and his team successfully source the ingredients, but they also had their own chef create a recipe to meet their high-quality standards!
PFC was able to step in and help Las Americas with the working capital to meet the demands of their operating cycle. As a result, Las Americas was able to scale their business and continue on a strong growth trajectory.
Of course, one would be asking, where can I buy Las Americas’ products? To their credit, and the evolution of their business, Las Americas was able to find a way to generate a more profitable revenue stream by “white labeling” their products and selling them to larger vendors. Their “white labeled” products can be found in stores such as Costco, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Target. Their products can also be found with a well-known fast-food chain, where the tamales are nationally produced with Las Americas’ corn husks.
John and his team seized an opportunity. Recognizing and tapping into a marketplace need has turned into a nation-wide niche for Las Americas Group. What began as a passion for finding the highest-quality products has organically grown into the newest wave of Mexican American fusion foods.
