Family business: Saavedra, born in Mexico City, serves as president and remains highly involved in the company, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. His son, Luis Saavedra, runs the day-to-day operations as vice president, and his two daughters, Dolores McCoy and Jacqueline Mora, also work there.
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By The Hundreds Staff. On Cinco de Mayo , we released a collaboration with the iconic hot sauce brand. Their story is one for the books: Jose-Luis Saavedra, Sr. He weathered multiple lawsuits—one by big guns Con Agra for a really sus reason and even Cuervo yes, the guys behind Jose Cuervo.
Luis Saavedra, Jr. This article was originally published in The Hundreds Magazine Summer issue. In preparation for our The Hundreds X Tapat? As we made our way through the front entrance, we were immediately greeted with the sharp scent of chile relleno and the warmth of a family who has been hustling through hardships since the early days of starting what we now know as Tapat?
Between my mom and my dad, they used to make this hot sauce and sell it at his place of work in Vernon So my mom encouraged him to go out and sell the hot sauce. In order to do that, he opened up a small place in Maywood and had to have two part-time jobs to be able to pay for the rent.
And you guys had no experience prior to starting. Luis: You know, well, since my dad started the company, he said he had all strikes against him. He had no business background. So those three factors were against him. Why the name Tapat?
Is there a story behind that name? Luis: When my father started the business, it was called Cuervo. Dolores: She was a Cuervo. Oh, wow. But the funny thing is, he had the state trademark here in California to sell Cuervo. So if Cuervo was to sell or advertise, they would be infringing on our trademark.
So he had several meetings with them through an uncle. They need the name, we need the money to grow, so why not just buy out that name? Now, Tapat? He went and bought 10, labels and he started selling the product as Charro.
He got sued again! I just printed 10, labels! Through hard lessons. There were no Tapat? By Con Agra and Del Monte foods. When was that? He said there were more attorneys on the letterhead than there were words on the page.
If we feel confident that this is our name, we should just fight it, no matter what. Ta- patio. As a result of that, he set a precedent in the legal books. I mean it was nickels and dimes all the way.
All of you must have been so young at the time. Your father was just kind of going through all of this by himself? Luis: Exactly. And you know, the grit and the determination behind him is truly amazing. He will not take no for an answer. Dolores: As a woman, I used to see my dad and he used to do these two jobs. He used to take us to school everyday and make sure we were picked up, make sure there was food on the table.
Working, working, working. He was a very strict father, but man, he did it ALL. He raised us, he put food on the table.
The cuervo side! Luis: [ Laughs ] I grew up with [my dad] and I was involved in all these early challenges. We never felt his stress, his anxiety, his tears. He never made us worry. Roche: I can tell you from a company lawyer perspective, when it comes to legal issues, I guess as a result of that early battle-he schooled me on trademark law.
We had a couple legal battles that went into six figures. Luis, you studied medicine in Mexico, Dolores studied law, and Jackie studied finances and accounting. How has it been working together? Dolores: Yes.
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