“I have a scrambled egg for breakfast with Tajín and, since I tried it, I have never put salt on my eggs again,” confesses Publio Adrianza Salaverría, who chairs the Board of Directors of Industrias Tajín. But this is not the only dish that seasons the ground chili that is manufactured in the plant in Jalisco. There are also those who spread it on rice, soup and, of course, fruit, beer and snacks. The versatility of the product is precisely what has driven the growth of the Tajín brand in the Mexican market and abroad.
The company chaired by Horacio Fernández was founded in December 1985 in Zapopan, Jalisco. Then, the product was distributed in a truck that visited the stores to sell the bottles with green caps and the colors of the Mexican flag. The growth of the brand has been gradual and it was not until 1993 that the first shipment was made to the United States, which is now the second most important market for the company, after Mexico.
With the new millennium, also came a change of image for Tajín and international expansion. In the year 2000, the Mexican company started exporting hot sauces for the first time to Central America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Currently, the company has a presence in 65 different countries, and this year it will begin to bring its hotness to the Middle East.
The sauces and spices market closed 2021 with revenues of 1,955 million dollars in Mexico, which will reach 2,710 million dollars in 2026, according to projections by the consulting firm Statista.
Industrias Tajín has made its way into the world market with a strategy that combines word of mouth advertising with social networks, where it disseminates content that shows recipes that incorporate the product as an ingredient.
“Tajín changed the consumption of fruits and vegetables in Mexico and this phenomenon has spread throughout the world, where we have changed some of the consumer’s habits,” declares Adrianza Salaverría, the president of the Board of Directors of Industrias Tajín. ” In the Middle East it has been interesting because at an exhibition there was a lot of insistence from important businessmen to be representatives and distributors. The use of the product in fruits and vegetables has them trapped,” he adds.
What is Tajín chili?
Tajín powder is not a secret mixture, but it is difficult to match. In social networks, such as YouTube, there are various recipes to make the classic Tajín spicy powder, even on the shelves there are bottles with a similar product under the rubric of other brands.
During a visit to its plant, Industrias Tajín did not give details about its recipe, but it did reveal that it is a mixture of dehydrated lemon, sea salt and dried chilies: pasilla, ancho, guajillo and jalapeño.
In the market, the brand has seven different presentations. The first three are powdered: classic, classic without sodium, habanero and sweet. The rest are liquid: classic, chipotle and chamoy. Each of the bottles has a heat indicator, ranging from one to four flames of fire.
In addition to the recipe, Industrias Tajin has also found an opportunity to stand out in the presentations it offers. Chili powder is sold in 4-gram sachets, small bottles of 10, 45, 142, 400 and 907 grams. In addition to the liquid ones of 14, 60 and 475 milliliters.
The company also sells a special mix for frosting glasses and packets of dried chiles, the same ones it uses to make its sauces. For e-commerce (and international markets), a box with six containers of different flavors of sauces, powdered and liquid, is sold.
How is the Tajín chili produced?
The Tajín chili is produced in a complex located in Tala, Jalisco, which the company opened on April 6 to respond to the demand for the product. In it, 400 employees, distributed in two shifts, manufacture 300 bottles of powdered and liquid Tajín per minute, that is, 800,000 per day. 50% of this production goes to international markets and the remaining 50% is for local consumption.
The production area is divided into four levels. The first is the raw material and packaging warehouse, where the necessary supply for final production is carried out. These peppers, already pulverized, along with the rest of the ingredients, go through a mixing process, to later fill the containers of each of the production lines for the different flavors and formats of the sauces.
The sauces come out packaged and after passing various control points, their label is placed and they go to the warehouses before going out to the different sales centers, from small shops to supermarkets and wholesalers.
