Today we’d like to introduce you to Julio Vidal.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Growing up my mother and grandma made tamales like most Latin households do especially during the holidays. As I got older and started my own family, I wanted to carry on the tradition of making my own tamales in my kitchen. Sometimes My sons help but as typical teenagers they lose interest and wonder off. I will keep at it to teach them the way My mother taught me how to make tamales. After many many failed attempts, I finally got the hang of it. I got better at it and started bringing tamales to the office as snacks. Eventually, my coworkers requested that I make them for their families. I finally got embraced social media as a platform to market my tamales and now I sell them around my community. Houstonian’s know about tamales but some don’t understand that’s a full day commitment to make them. It’s a lot of work but I find it to be cathartic and it allows me to earn some money extra cash while making something I love doing.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s not easy making tamales. My mother didn’t have a written recipe. All the ingredients and all the steps were in her memory and for me to retain what she taught me was a challenge. I found a new way to screw up a batch until I finally got it just right.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the JVTAMALES story. Tell us more about the business.
I make tamales. Mexican style tamales. I focus on high quality not high quantity. Anyone can make tamales that are mostly masa to maximize profit. I prefer to focus on quality so I can earn repeat customers and nothing is more valuable than word of mouth.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Making tamales for is a manual process that takes time. People are more health conscious than ever before and tamales are not a light food but demand around the holidays is always high.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: JVTamales
- Facebook: JVTamales
Image Credit:
Julio Vidal
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