Summer is here, and families are ready to get out of the house and enjoy the field trips they had to postpone last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And on the trips, Manzela’s snacks are their best companion.
Japanese-style peanuts, hot peanuts, salted peanuts, Spanish-style peanuts, garapiñados (sweet topping), peanut bars, fried fava beans, roasted pumpkin seeds, corn churritos, among others, have earned a special place among the favorite snacks consumed by families on all occasions. This was demonstrated last summer when Manzela produced record sales of its products.
The incomparable flavor of Manzela snacks has been maintained for decades thanks to its artisanal preparation and carefully chosen ingredients. It is also a leader in innovation in the design of attractive and functional packaging. Through innovation, Manzela found success, triumphing over other brands that have failed to compete in this category.
Andres Venado, president of Manzela USA, said the company has two plants to manufacture its products for export, located in Texcoco, State of Mexico, and Puebla. After rapid growth in Mexico, it continued its international expansion. The company established Manzela USA in Texas more than ten years ago to distribute its snacks directly in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Two years ago, the company also began a project to distribute its products in Europe, which is well underway.
Manzela’s flagship product is Japanese-style peanuts. The snack was created decades ago in Mexico by a person of Asian origin. It inherited its name, image, and the perception of being a product from Japan or China. However, the product is one hundred percent Mexican.
Manuel Zepeda, the founder of Manzela, started his business by buying 20 kilos of peanuts to make the products, which he then delivered by bicycle. Today, the company’s plants process between 20 and 22 tons of peanuts daily, where something that has not changed is the strict quality control to maintain the unmistakable flavor of its products.
Likewise, inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have visited its plants to ensure that the manufacturing process of the peanut snacks follows all the food safety rules required by the authorities for their sale in the United States.
Manzela is also different from other food manufacturers because it is an integrated company that controls its processes, from preparation and packaging to distribution, with its warehouses and fleet of trucks.
In the United States, Manzela USA products can be found in practically every state, emphasizing the regions with the most significant Hispanic presence.
Esteban Cuellar, national sales manager for Manzela USA, told Abasto that “through our customers, we have been able to penetrate the wholesale market for many years and also recently have been gaining a strong presence in regional and national supermarket chains, both in the Hispanic and Anglo markets.”
Manzela’s peanut snacks can most recently be found in CVS pharmacies as part of the company’s expansion plan in the Anglo market.
Cuellar emphasized that in their marketing strategy, they emphasize offering assistance to their customers with marketing teams that work day in and day out on the street and with all the necessary material for support at the point of sale.
“Display racks, cardboard bins, POP material, support with samples, and “giveaways” are some of the tools available for this customer support strategy,” Cuellar pointed out.
In this summer season, Manzela USA is launching a new series of practical and innovative packaging for its most popular products, specially designed so that they are never missing on family outings.
These are the Japanese Style Peanut in plastic bags, a box with 18 packs of 16 units of 40 grams each; the Japanese Style Peanut in plastic display cases, tray with six display cases with 40 units of 36 grams each; and the Peanut Popsicle, PEG presentation, box with 20 bags with 4 units of 40 grams each. For more information visit, www.manzela.us