The salty, spicy, citrusy goodness of Mexican snacks can now get delivered straight to your mailbox every month thanks to a life-changing new subscription-based box service called Mexitreat. The brainchild of two SoCal natives, Saul Torres and Algen Beringuel, Mexitreat curates a rotating array of delicious treats – from childhood staples like pulparindos, mazapanes and rebanaditas; to more traditional offerings, like dulce de guayaba, tamarindo, dulce de leche, jamoncillos, and borrachitos; to new finds culled from extensive travels all over Mexico. Think of it as a personal piñata that ships anywhere in the world.
The idea for Mexitreat began as a way to stave off homesickness, explained Leticia Gomez Franco, who leads the company’s marketing and community engagement initiatives. “We have family and friends who have left Southern California and are now living throughout the country, and whenever we chat with them, they always mention how much they miss the food, the flavors, that sabor of growing up in SoCal,” she said. “We thought, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a Mexican care package? Something that could be sent to all the homesick folks trying to make it out there in college in the east coast or in the communities they’re building, setting roots all over the world?” In fact, since launching this summer, many of the subscriptions they’ve sold have been for college students at universities across the country and active service men and women stationed around the world who miss the taste of home. “Nothing makes us prouder than the feedback we get from homesick latin@s all over the world indulging in a delicious moment of nostalgia,” Leticia wrote to me via email.
Since developing the concept last spring, the staff of three have moved into an office space in San Diego’s Barrio Logan – home to the annual Chicano-Con celebration – from which they make frequent trips to Mexico, combing different regions in search of new snacks and dulces to add to their roster. “As a South San Diego based company, we are fronterizos, we travel the border constantly,” says Franco. Torres, the “resident dulce expert” charged with keeping the curation fresh, “uses his magnificent sweet tooth to scour the land for delicious treats,” including decadent chocolate from Oaxaca and newer concoctions coming out of places like Monterrey, Michoacan, and Guadalajara. The goal, they say, is to hit three basic Mexican treat groups: the staples, the older classics, and the new finds.
Mexitreat currently offers three types of subscriptions: month to month at a cost of $10.99, a three month pre-paid subscription at $29.97, and an annual pre-paid subscription at $99.99.
To learn more about Mexitreat check out their website here, and keep an eye peeled for their forthcoming blog, set to launch in September, which will feature all things delicious – from recipes for the perfect micheladas and tostilocos to guides on where to find the best chamoy margaritas.