From the world renowned sands of Varadero Beach in Cuba an idea was born. The year was 1950, and teenage Alejandro Cepero, sold his tamales out of a shoulder strapped tin can along the sands of the famous beach resort. His dream: big scale food processing in the US.
Arriving in Tampa in the late sixties, with wife and two young children, Alejandro began unfolding his dream and Catalina was born, the name in honor of his mother and her tamale recipe.
Today, half a century after that sandy beach dream and the tin can, Cepero looks back with a grin and a smile as he contemplates his state-of-the-art processing plant, and in total awe remarks, "only God can do this."
In today's fast-paced and complex economy, Catalina has been able to successfully market its products nationwide and abroad. Construction plans are currently underway for a new processing plant facility scheduled to open winter 2007. It is Catalina's continuous commitment to expand its inventory variety, to enhance the quality of products and to affirm our policy of fast, efficient customer satisfaction.
Founder, President and Chairman of the Board How did a husband and wife home-kitchen initiative of tamale processing turn into a multi-million dollar food plant enterprise? Alejandros's response: hard work, faith and integrity.
After more than three decades of unprecedented growth,Catalina now stands as a robust icon leader in specialized Caribbean food processing. With the latest state-of-the-art and technologically advanced processing machinery and over 50,000 square feet of production facilities, Catalina steadily delivers continuous high quality products to worldwide markets.
Vice President and General Manager A business graduate of University of South Florida, Frank runs a tight ship, drafting and streamlining the corporate and marketing sales policy strategy of the company. His executorial motto, "get it done now or else…", assuring procedures that ultimately guarantees customer satisfaction and continuous growth.
Vice President, Production Engineering Manager An industrial engineer major of University of South Florida, Justo is the mathematical precision mind behind the production that inalterably sustains Catalina's compromise with its clientele: prime quality tasting product delivered on time. Justo is proud of his personnel and equipment, "not only does it have to taste good and be out to the customer today", he affirms, "it has to be that way every day".