"There’s gold in them thar chorizos!”
To paraphrase that old expression from the time of the California gold rush might be a good way to reintroduce Humberto Raygoza and his hopeful efforts to start a chorizo business in San Pedro in 2013. As covered in a previously published MEAT+POULTRY profile (in 2018) about this native of Zacatecas, Mexico, Humberto was a student at UCLA who dropped out of school to start a chorizo business using the recipes taught to him by his father and uncle.
This enthusiastic fourth-generation chorizo maker began by stuffing about 50 lbs of his product a month, loading two 25-lb wheeled coolers and selling it door to door in the Los Angeles area. The original story from 2018 recounted how The Chori-Man grew to a monthly output of 500 lbs by bartering with local restaurants and breweries, trading his chorizo for the right to use their facilities to make his artisan product.
Things were going swimmingly for him until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. His wife Vanessa Rodriguez recounts those days:
“As you know, COVID rocked the whole nation, and many small businesses became victims of the uncertainty, shortages and financial burdens. We call ourselves small but mighty, and we survived the pandemic with a lot of sweat, tears and quite frankly an incomparable level of madness.
“In 2021, Humberto shared with me that he felt like he was on a hamster wheel and had outgrown his business partner and that our family business was on the brink of closure. I wasn’t aware of how bad it was or how mentally sick he was, but in November of that year he asked me to quit my job and join the family business. By the following July we bought out his former business partner and the 800-square-foot shop, and I became his business partner in both companies. The shop is about 10% sausage kitchen, and the rest of the space is for those who want to buy chorizo by the pound to take home, or enjoy it in our famous breakfast burritos, where they can either sit outside on little stools or take them to the beach.”
It is noteworthy that Vanessa, who is a Grammy winning singer and songwriter, is the co-owner and managing partner and in charge of all things chorizo. She is also the mother of four-year-old Emiliano, or “Momo The Chorizo Baby,” as he is known throughout the community.
Together the family has worked tirelessly and joyfully to turn the business around and is now manufacturing about 52,000 lbs of chorizo annually. They were recently named as the producers of the “Best Artisan Chorizo” by LA Magazine.
They produce six versions of the sausage. This includes the original Zacatecas red, a maple habanero flavor, an Argentinian style with fennel and garlic (with a hint of wine), a Sonora, Tolucan green and a Portuguese-style. They’ve come up with a vegan chorizo they dub Soyriso, which is far and away becoming one of their best sellers. They now produce it in 1-lb retail packs as well as by the case for restaurants.
The Chori-Man produces six different flavors of chorizo and a vegan version called "Soyriso." (Source: Patrick Strattner Photography)Working on a turnaround
During the challenging days of the pandemic, Humberto had all of his employees running in and out and he ran the shop himself, not only making chorizo, but cooking on the line, cleaning the facility, handling wholesale account deliveries, and ringing up sales, while his partner handled administration and paying the bills.
Then he tested positive for COVID and for a three-week period, one month after Vanessa gave birth to their son, the shop closed down. The business was on the verge of permanently closing. He came back from the illness and found a 16-year-old girl who helped the customers with their purchases and assist him in cleaning up. He knew things were at rock bottom and the turnover rate and uncertainty continued for another year before he offered to buy out his former partner.
When she left, he turned to Vanessa and asked her to quit her job and come and work with him and run the business. She accepted the offer, and they spent their off time strategizing what they could do to save the shop. One of the first things they did was to purchase a former clothing warehouse about a mile away and install four freezer and cooler units in that facility’s 3,500-square-foot space. They called it Salchicha Foods LLC (salchicha is Spanish for “sausage”), and it would be their wholesale facility. Their original The Chori-Man shop had only one chest freezer with limited storage space.
When he wasn’t making sausage or cooking and serving chorizo sandwiches at the shop, Humberto was out taking samples of his product and trying to sell to restaurants and small grocers, providing delivery to customers, and continuously strategizing with his wife.
Vanessa said that they used to buy ads on social media accounts but saw they simply weren’t making any positive impact to the bottom line, and it was draining them of monetary resources. She pulled all ads and began using those channels to simply tell their story. She talked about their products, their amazing employee team and the wonderful community they served. Those worked wonders. Humberto says that about 30 to 40 first-time customers would come into their shop daily and they grew organically.
They began offering a rewards program they call Chori Fam Royalty for retail customers. It offers one point for every dollar in purchases and shoppers can redeem every 100 points earned for a $5 discount. More details on the rewards program and their other features can be found on their website thechoriman.com.
Hard-earned accolades
Today the shop and Salchicha Foods has more than two dozen restaurants they sell to directly through their whole Salchicha Foods operation and plenty more that get their product through other distributors, including Sysco and Newport Meats. Their products are also on the menu at the California Adventure Hotel which serves guests visiting Disneyland.
They continue to participate in local food festivals and have taken on a line of sauces, spices, salsas, rubs and marinades which they sell both retail and wholesale.
The reaction to this business turnaround could only be described as exuberant. The Chori-Man that once thought about starting his own bakery dropped that idea when area bakeries began buying their product in wholesale cases to create delicious pastries such as chorizo hand-pies and chorizo sourdough rolls.
Then in 2023 the Los Angeles Times named their product the “Best Breakfast Burrito of the Southland” in the South Bay and West Los Angeles regions. A few months later the publication followed up that honor by naming their business among the “Top Rated Places To Work.” The Chori-Man has seven employees in addition to Humberto and Vanessa and that fifth-generation chorizo youngster whose been seen around the shop.
Both owners call their workers The Best Team in Southern California.
“Having a good product is important,” the couple said. “But we pride ourselves on the consistency of not only what we sell, but the outgoing service that our team of employees provides. We get as many comments about the great and courteous service they received as the things they bought.
“They are always noticed and appreciated. People tell their friends about what they like, and our team shares the same appreciation for the food they serve, the service they provide and the vision we share for the future with them.”
Still, there is no coasting for Humberto and Vanessa. Their employees come in at 7:30 a.m. and leave at 2:15 p.m., and the co-owners take care of things the rest of the day and into the night. Humberto says he still delivers product to some wholesale customers in the LA area as late as 3:00 a.m.
The co-owners share the hope that their operation will grow stronger and more popular in the wholesale sector where they think the market is ripe for a small business that wants to do things the right way.
