Mamacita’s Empanadas – an interview with The Golden Star.
You’ve come a long way since you first started making and selling empanadas. What are some of the growing pains you’ve overcome recently?
The biggest pinch right now for everyone in the food industry is the rising cost of ingredients. We aren’t immune to the increase, and we aren’t willing to sacrifice the quality of our ingredients, so we have been looking at other ways to keep our prices down.
The smallest thing we can do is practice efficiency in everything we do; from preparing the dough and fillings to packaging, we are constantly trying to improve our team and find ways to make the process faster and more streamlined.
We are also looking at investing in machinery to help us increase production. Currently, we produce our empanadas in small batches and we hand pinch each one to give them they’re unique form.
Although this ensures the authenticity we pride ourselves on, we recognize that it limits our production. Adding some specified production equipment to our kitchen will help us increase our batch size and cut a small amount of labour out of the process.
Talk about your new packaging. (It’s amazing, by the way!) Seems like it was a journey to get to where you are now.
Packaging is always a struggle – it’s that evil necessity. Local folks will remember we were selling our empanadas out of our basement suite on 6th street during Covid, placing little paper bags out on the front steps with name tags on them.
The empanadas stayed frozen because it was mid-December and -30 out. Once we got a little more professional, paper bags weren’t a great option for freezer storage. We moved to generic stand-up pouches with stickers on them, but that turned out to be expensive and time-consuming to produce.
We looked at a ton of different options and finally went with packaging from a company called RooTree Packaging because their company values really align with ours. Among other things, they strive to develop new and innovative solutions that promote sustainability and minimize their collective environmental impact.
Our goal with the new packaging was to portray the quality and artistry that goes into our products, as well as have a little fun with colour. We think we achieved that. We also wanted to be true to our roots; some of the features you will see on our packaging are: Spanish language first (a great learning opportunity to practice and learn Spanish) and the BuyBC logo (makes it easy for consumers to identify and buy BC products).
You recently participated in the 2023 FABx BasinFood expo. How does an event like that benefit you as a small producer?
The Basin Food and Buyers Expo is the only trade show in the Columbia Basin Region for food processors to connect with local buyers.
At this show, producers and processors like us get a chance to showcase our products to local independent grocery stores, larger chain stores, and restaurants and cafes. Without this connection, we otherwise would have to go door to door to each individual buyer on our own, hoping that they have the time for us and have the time to take our product samples home and try them… then we hope that they aren’t too busy to get back to us and make an order.
The trade show allows us to connect directly with buyers, give them a hot sample, answer any questions, and order on the spot if they are interested. It’s also a great way to connect with other local food producers and processors, and there are often unique collaborations that happen when foodie friends get together.
What’s next for Mamacita’s Empanadas?
We are looking at expansion. Our goal in the next few months is to increase our customer reach by adding more stores to our lineup and expanding outside of the Columbia Basin. We have Kamloops and Kelowna on our radar; folks there will see us at upcoming Christmas markets. We’ve also got a market in Vancouver coming on board next month.
Anything else you’d like to add?
We are planning a special event for our community here in Golden. We will be hosting a “Latino Night” sometime in the new year (details to come) where people will be able to come together to enjoy some Tango lessons, taste the flavours of South America, try their hand at rolling empanadas, and learn a little Spanish.
For updates on events, sales, and fun facts, please follow us on Instagram or Facebook @MamacitasEmpanadas or subscribe to our newsletter at www.mamacitasempanadas.com/contact
Jessie Paloposki is also the founder of the Fiesta Dorada, Golden’s very own Latino Festival.
