During the past decade, Mission Foods acquired several companies, not for their brands but for their capacity. In recent years, the emphasis has changed to planning ahead, anticipating future growth and building plants ahead of time to spread the Mission and Guerrero brands across the nation.

“The only reason we made acquisitions was because we were not planning properly,” explain German Sahid Chavez, vice-president of manufacturing. “Now, we have a plan for the next 20 years based on our internal growth, based on industry growth and projections. We’re looking at what we’re going to need in California. What are we going to need in Texas? What are going to need in the East? What are we going to need in the Northeast?

“Now we have a plan of several more lines or several more plants to be ready for that growth,” he continued. “Before it would hit us, and we’d go, ‘What are we going to do to acquire capacity right away?’ Now it’s more proactive. Now we’re focused.”