Leal’s fresh salsas and quesos are manufactured in Amarillo, Texas. Their story begins when Jesse and Irma Leal opened a small tortilla factory in Muleshoe, TX, later opening a full-service restaurant.. Their six children grew up working in the restaurant and the tortilla factory, and now each child has his or her own business. Abel Leal saw the opportunity to mass-market the family’s chips and salsa and jumped at it!
When Abel brought his family's chips and salsa to his law school study group, Christy Bumstead was impressed, and suggested that he should produce and sell them. Unbeknownst to Abel, Christy was married to Grant Bumstead, who was the President of United Supermarkets at the time. Abel and his wife Marcie Caldwell saw the opportunity and decided to begin manufacturing their salsa, and we would end up bringing Leal’s salsa into our stores in 2000.
To this day, Leal’s still uses locally sourced goods, such as corn grown in West Texas, to manufacture their products. They want their customers to know that their products come from homemade recipes and are handcrafted or handmade - and that is for a reason. They hold a firm commitment to invest in people, their employees, who they consider to be their extended family members. In Abel’s words “Our extended family includes families with parents who both work outside the home, and single moms with children who depend on being able to work. A value we believe is important is that while our manufacturing process is not the most efficient way to make a tortilla chip, we believe that some things are better left unchanged.”
This is a great family business that makes delicious products. Be sure to enjoy their chips and salsa as a snack or use their salsa and queso as the perfect topping for grilled chicken or steaks.
