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Private Equity Firm Acquires 50% Stake in Xochitl Chips and Salsa Brand

May 28, 2024

Forward Consumer Partners’ investment expected to help nearly 30-year-old brand of tortilla chips and salsas continue to grow.

Andy Hanacek

Private equity firm Forward Consumer Partners has acquired a 50% ownership stake in tortilla chip and salsa manufacturer Xochitl LLC. Carlos Salinas, founder, CEO and chairman emeritus of Xochitl, will retain a 50% interest in the company moving forward, according to a release announcing the partnership.

Xochitl was founded in 1995 with a century-old family salsa recipe and Salinas’ search for a tortilla chip that was thin and crispy enough to showcase the salsa. After five years of testing, Xochitl tortilla chips were created. Today, Xochitl is America’s largest independent brand of corn tortilla chips, the announcement noted.

Concurrent with the closing of the deal, Xochitl also announced the addition of Carl Lee (former CEO of Snyder’s Lance; former executive at Frito-Lay and Nabisco) and Maura Mottolese (CEO of Firehook Bakery; former CEO of Cholula and Tate’s Bake Shop) to its board of directors.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.