#211 - Acquisition Story: How Hector Saldivar Grew Tia Lupita Foods From a Family Recipe to a Successful Acquisition
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 26 August 2025
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Daniel Scharff speaks with Hector Saldivar, founder and CEO of Tia Lupita Foods, about his journey from sharing his mother’s hot sauce recipe to building a nationally recognized, better-for-you Mexican-inspired brand.
Hector shares how he grew Tia Lupita from kitchen batches to retail shelves, the challenges of competing in the crowded hot sauce category, and the strategies he used to stand out with authentic branding and premium positioning. He opens up about his SharkTank experience (and the realities of renegotiating after the cameras stop rolling), lessons learned from fundraising and retail expansion, and the pivotal moments that led to Tia Lupita’s acquisition by Vilore Foods.
They also dive deep into entrepreneurship, resilience, and the balance between seizing opportunities and pacing growth.
Tune in to gain valuable perspective on building and scaling a food brand!
Listen in as they share about:
Founding Story of Tia Lupita Foods- SharkTank Experience
- Early Growth and Retail Expansion
- Differentiation in the Hot Sauce Market
- Trends in Hot Sauce & Chili Crisp
- Fundraising and Acquisition Journey
- Retailer & Distribution Strategy
- Advice to Entrepreneurs
Episode Links:
Website: https://tialupitafoods.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hector-sald%C3%ADvar-16a34a/
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- Episode music by Super Fantastics
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A few years back when I ran a beverage company, we had to launch using those plastic sleeves to put our designs on the cans. |
| 0:08.0 | But they looked bad, the sleeves get stretched out, they don't cover the full can, and overall they just look and feel low quality. |
| 0:14.0 | Lucky for you, digital can printing technology has come so far over the last few years that now you can launch your beverage brand or new skews with a fully |
| 0:21.7 | printed look and it's at similar pricing to those plastic sleeves. |
| 0:25.3 | Our friends at CanWorks, which is the largest U.S.-based digital can printer, are happy to work with |
| 0:30.1 | our community at very low minimums, even one palette. |
| 0:32.9 | They've got locations in the East Coast, the West Coast, Texas. |
| 0:36.0 | Get in touch with them through our contact form. |
| 0:38.2 | It's at canworksprinting.com slash startup CPG. |
| 0:42.7 | Thank you. In retrospect, I would have paced myself a little bit more on the growth. |
| 1:05.8 | It's inevitable to get excited, you know, when Target or Walmart or Crozer or Albertsons come to you and say, |
| 1:16.3 | you know, we walk you in and we're going to give you 2,000 stores. |
| 1:20.6 | You know, it's huge. |
| 1:21.7 | Is it the right thing to do at the state you're currently in? |
| 1:25.8 | And that's what you really need to think about, right? |
| 1:29.4 | And really be disciplined about it, right? |
| 1:32.1 | For me, there was a couple of retailers that we decided to move forward. |
| 1:36.8 | And it was not the right time to go to a thousand stores. |
| 1:41.5 | Even to go, at a certain stage, even go to a 500 stores, you have to think |
| 1:45.4 | of how you're going to activate that. |
| 1:50.5 | Welcome everyone to the Startup CPG podcast. There has been a burst of recent M&A activity, |
| 1:55.7 | and we're here today to celebrate and reflect with Hector Saldiwar, founder and CEO of |
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