Fred Ruiz credits Mexican immigrants for making Ruiz Foods a $1 billion company

“My talk is about what it means to live the American dream. Why do immigrants from all over the world come to America to pursue living the American dream? I’m talking about my immigrant family and many of the families of our graduates.

“My grandparents, with four young children, immigrated from México to the United States in 1924. My grandfather felt his family would not be so safe if they stayed in México. He believed his children would have no future in México other than being poor. My grandparents wanted their children to have a chance for a better future. That was my grandfather’s American dream.

“He worked hard to make it happen. He worked for Southern Pacific Railroad, retiring at age 65. That was his American dream. To move to America, to get a job, a good job and that his children would have a good education and have a better future.

“And his children, including my father, had summer jobs. His children finished high school. Three of them built successful businesses. My dad and his siblings also pursued their American dream. That was my grandfather’s American dream. He lived his American dream. And now I’m living my American dream.

The American dream

“Living the American dream can be different to every family and to every generation. Living the American dream is free to all Americans, regardless of your nationality, even if your family has been in America for 200 years. America is a free country. Everybody has the right and the opportunity to take a good idea. And with hard work and good planning and a little luck, you can have a better future.

“My mom and dad died 15 years ago. They were very proud of Ruiz Foods because it was their American dream. Let me tell you how the Ruiz family American dream started and grew. In 1967, 55 years ago. I had just graduated from College of the Sequoias in Visalia. just by saying you. I started looking for a job, and then dad took me aside, and he shared his plan to start a frozen Mexican food company.

“I accepted his offer to be a founding partner. We got creative and we named our company Ruiz Foods. How about that? Located in Tulare, a nice town where I grew up, about 90 miles south on Highway 99.

“My dad was a good businessman. He started a few businesses in his life, and as we were growing up, that was an entrepreneur. As the dictionary defines that, a business creator. He understood the importance of common sense. He liked to weld equipment. He made conveyors. And he was a good salesman. I learned a lot from my dad, and we worked well together as partners.

Mexican immigrants drove sales

“Every year, the demand for Mexican food kept growing. We became good at overcoming challenges and finding better ways and learning more from our mistakes. The El Monterrey brand kept growing and the frozen food sections grew larger. Then came the Costco warehouse stores and sales exploded across the country.

“The key growth driver – and this is important – for our success was the Mexican immigrant moving across the United States. The Mexican immigrants coming to America, moving across the United States. It’s that simple. But what they did is they introduced Mexican food to the rest of the population. Then came Mexican restaurants opening in every city across the United States. That was a great marketing plan that we put together.

“Mexican immigrants introduced Mexican food. Mexican restaurants followed up. And now everybody loves Mexican food. Seriously, everybody. El Monterey burritos are sold in 95% of the supermarkets across the United States. College students live off our burritos because we’re such a great taste and a great value. We are helping to make the college students’ education more affordable.

“Convenience stores featured a new product that Ruiz introduced 10 years ago Tornadoes and Go Go taquitos. So take a burrito, a taquito, and they put it on a roller grill with hot dogs. And pretty soon, we were selling more taquitos than hot dogs. Tornadoes are sold in almost every convenience store in the U.S.

Ruiz Foods looks at $1 billion in sales

“Ruiz Foods has four large factories in three states, two in California, a large one and a small one. In Texas, we have one large facility. In South Carolina, we have our largest facility. Ruiz Foods has over 4,000 team members.

“Every burrito and every taquito is rolled automatically. That’s the American way. Ruiz Foods produces every flour and corn tortilla for our products. We are one of the largest tortilla manufacturers in the country and we don’t sell a single tortilla in supermarkets. Ruiz Foods is the largest frozen Mexican food company in the United States. Revenues are projected to exceed $1 billion in fiscal year 2022.

“My dream when dad asked me to be his partner, I thought if Ruiz Foods could be a $3.5 million company by the time I was 65 years old, that would be a lifetime accomplishment. We blew that one away big time. Ruiz Foods is the industry leader, the category leader in frozen foods and market share growth production automation and production innovation. We lead the nation.

“I wish my dad were here. He would love this. Current plans are for a new production facility in the Midwest and a new corporate office in Dallas, Texas. Dad said, ‘In business, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.’ Remember that growth is important in whatever you do and wherever you go. Ruiz is a family-owned business. We are now four generations strong, giving back to stakeholders. And I define stakeholders as the community, as education, as our environment. We have to. Businesses have to support and help grow all of those institutions.

A World War II veteran’s tribute

“Can you share a special, memorable event? That’s really important to me personally. My dad served in World War II along with his brothers. My dad was in Iwo Jima, one of the most vicious areas and places where many, many American soldiers lost their lives, as well as Japanese soldiers. My dad on the last day he was to be shipped out, he mentioned to me, his whole purpose that day was just trying not to get killed. That’s how bad it was. Just try not to get killed on your last day of service.

“I’m going to talk about a special award and it goes with my dad. That was many years ago. The Small Business Administration had a program that they wanted to recognize a small business of the year across the nation. Ruiz Food products was one of the candidates, and we were competing with Microsoft, Winnebago, IBM and many, many other great companies. But we won. We beat those big companies. And it wasn’t just based on size. It was based on a lot of things. And a lot of it had to do with the future that we were creating for other organizations and for our community.

“So here we are at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a very, very special place in Washington, D.C. If you ever get a chance, you should visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. So there was a large crowd there. And then the service started and they started playing taps. And then we saw a military guard coming out. I’d say it’s about 18 to 24 soldiers, three lines and marching in step, representing all of the different services.

“I thought, wow, this is really special. And then to my surprise. As they came closer, my dad was in the front line with the soldiers, not in military uniform but in his civilian clothes. And he was carrying the wreath that would be placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was my dad. I never saw him like that. A military man when he was marching, he was in step with every soldier in the unit. And then he walked up to the tomb and he laid the wreath at the bottom of the tomb. Then he spun around in perfect military manner, where they take their toe and they spin around, got back in line and they walked away.

“Now, that was unbelievable for me. It was unbelievable. But also, when you talk about. But you talk about America and the opportunities that it created in my mind. After thinking about it, I got to thinking that was my dad’s American dream come true. Being part of that service, that ceremony. He served in the war. And to me, when he was asked to do that, that was his way of saying, ‘Thank you, America, for giving me the opportunity and coming back alive and able so I could do this.’

“So I wanted to share that with you because it was really important to me. I miss my dad and I miss my mom, especially her cheese enchiladas. She made wonderful cheese enchiladas.

California has 100,000 new jobs

“Did you know that there are over 100,000 new jobs available every year here in California. One-hundred-thousand good jobs looking for university graduates, many of them here in California. California businesses are forced to hire out-of-state students because they can’t fill those jobs. Now, I think that’s something that you need to know and you need to take a look at, because that’s your future right there. You have to start somewhere and why not start with a good job?

“After about 10 years Ruiz Food Products was a $50 million company, and I was thinking, well, maybe I should change my $3.5 million goal and raise it to $500 million. And here we are. We did $1 billion. Goals are important because it helps you stay focused. You need to stay focused when you’re pursuing your career.

“Communication. Our company, we are very good at communicating. But what I learned very early was most of our competitors were bigger than we were. And they. They were out producing us. And so what we did is we sat in every week, we communicated with our employees and we talked about our production and many other things. How can we eliminate waste? How can we be more productive? I’m not talking about making more burritos. I’m talking about not throwing away as many burritos because we didn’t do it right the first time.

“So think about that. One of the things that’s very important for every company is treating their employees (we call them team members) with dignity, respect and appreciation and help them grow, which is what we do, especially with college scholarships. Learn to challenge yourself. Take on tougher tasks, you can do it. Be proud of who you are. Proud you are special, special people. So, graduates, I wish you great success.”

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 17 de mayo de 2022, 4:06 p. m..