Casa Martinez: Ingredients for Success
written by: Cesar Arredondo
A decade ago, the makers of a Mexican salsa dreamed of entering the increasingly hotter U.S. salsa market, where the popular sauce had already dethroned ketchup as Americans’ favorite table condiment. Against many odds and competing against 100s of established brands, Casa Martinez salsas were born and today populate the shelves of more than 8,000 stores, including the nation’s largest supermarket chains.
Jesus Martinez Sr. was already an accomplished businessman in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa when he set his eyes on the United States.
To succeed, a product makeover seemed to be in order. Martinez and his wife, Adriana Ibarra de Martinez, decided to move their family to Arizona to study and understand the American market up close. “We had to learn how to do business in the U.S. and as a family, we decided to develop a new brand,” he says. “We created Casa Martinez.”
With the name settled, the Martinez family started knocking on doors to sell five types of salsas. While the brand was new, it consisted of the same varieties that made it popular in Mexico.
The first big break came early on when a regional chain of 12 stores in Southern California began to place regular orders of Casa Martinez salsas. Then came Safeway, a national supermarket chain based in Pleasanton in Northern California, and the company saw a “big jump” in sales.
Nowadays, Casa Martinez salsas are sold at many other major retailers like Costco, Walmart, Albertsons, Safeway, and Kroger.
From the get-go, the family also decided not just to focus on the Latino market but rather on the mainstream market. By then, the company had made some inroads in several European countries as well as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Japan. The company now plans to introduce Casa Martinez in many other nations such as Canada and China next year. As part of their growth strategy and adapting to an evolving media landscape, they also develop a robust plan for Casa Martinez via omnichannel.
The Martinez family also understood what the best selling point of their salsas was. “We are an authentic Mexican product,” states Jesus Martinez Sr., company founder and chairman of the board of directors.
Authenticity means making the salsas in Mexico with fresh, locally grown produce and following traditional recipes.
The Mexican brand benefits from having its main production plant in Sinaloa, considered Mexico’s “capital of the produce,” according to Martinez Sr. The richly agricultural state is a top producer of tomatoes and chiles, two main ingredients of fresh salsa, as well as many other vegetables and fruits. It is no surprise that food processing is the state’s top industry.
So proud are of their salsa’s authentic Mexican origin that the company’s website uses that country’s internet country code top-level domain: www.CasaMartinez.com.mx. The salsas also bear the “Hecho en México” label.
Leading the Casa Martinez team along with Jesus Martinez Sr. are his daughter Adriana, who serves as president of the company, and son Jesus Jr., as chief operating officer. Under their leadership, Casa Martinez has penetrated all states in America and expanded globally, from Europe to the Middle East to Asia. The siblings’ synergy both as business partners and family has been key to their success as they continue to practice all the values their parents instilled in them.
Martinez Family
“There’s nothing more important than having solid family values such as respect, honesty, hard work, integrity, and communication when it comes to growing a family business into the next largest authentic Mexican products company,” says Jesus Jr.
"Family values and unity are two ingredients in Casa Martinez’s recipe for success that propel the company to conquer bigger markets nationally and abroad", recognizes Mrs. Adriana. She mentioned how the family made many sacrifices and faced many challenges to make it in the U.S., uprooting from their natal land, learning a new culture and language, and understanding the extremely competitive American market, among others.
The recent COVID-19 health crisis tested the resilience of this Mexican family. As the American economy took a hit and many businesses struggled or even closed for good, Casa Martinez managed to do the unthinkable: find opportunities in the middle of a pandemic. As of 2020, the brand’s sales growth has almost doubled the national category average in the conventional channel, according to Adriana. “Casa Martinez is a category leader with a growth rate of 37.5 percent, which mostly comes from the fact that we are so authentic and fresh,” she says.
Yet, no achievement is taken for granted by the Martinez clan. While present in all states, they press on to reach new clients in every one of them and place more items on the shelves.
“My Vision is that Casa Martínez is the number one brand in quality, authentic Mexican products in the U.S.,” says Adriana Martinez. A graduate of the University of Arizona with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting, she has led all business development, growth strategies, and partnerships. Adriana gave up a future working with the nation’s top accounting firms to instead take Casa Martinez to new levels. Her accomplishments include co-founding and leading Marba Foods and International to handle salsa production and distribution. She recently announced the launching of a cooking program in support of the brand.
Adriana’s passion and drive have not gone unnoticed in the business world. Recently, she was honored as a 40 Under 40 Awards honoree by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Tucson, Arizona. And under her helm, Casa Martinez was recognized as Southern Arizona’s Mexican Corporation of the Year in 2019.
Other family members have also proven their commitment to Casa Martinez. Jesus Martinez Jr., the COO, once was a professional baseball player. His parents always supported his baseball dream of playing in Major League Baseball and instilled in him the great value of education. After concluding his time in baseball, he finished college, earned a master’s in business administration, and joined the family’s business to oversee the company’s operations in the U.S. The Martinez family considers that education is fundamental to success in life and in business.Now, another family member is getting ready to help carry out the Martinez business legacy. Eighteen-year-old Olga Martinez understands the importance of education in having success in business and is currently pursuing a business administration degree at the University of Arizona.
With three Martinez generations powering an entrepreneurial vision born two decades ago, the family is poised to score more accomplishments in the years to come both domestically and globally.
“The most important thing is to support the consolidation of our company in the United States,” concludes Jesus Martinez Sr. “We have grown a lot (but still) have a lot to do.”
