Mission manufacturer earns world-class certification, unlocking major retail opportunities

Mission-based manufacturing company Habibi Gourmet achieved a globally recognized food safety certification, allowing the plant to produce H-E-B products that will hit the shelves early next year.

Habibi Gourmet, the company behind the local brand Dip It by Pilar, earned a Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification in March after a year and a half of training and constructing a new manufacturing plant.

SQF is among the highest certification levels in food safety and quality compliance, and Habibi Gourmet earned a 97 out of 100 for its SQF score.

Although the manufacturing company was already producing products for smaller brands, the SQF allows the plant to manufacture for major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and H-E-B in Mission’s backyard.

Founder and CEO Pilar Gonzalez said earning this certification was about providing the highest quality standards.

“We wanted to make sure that we had everything that our customers deserved in ways of safety and good practices. That was our number one concern,” she said.

The new achievement is more than 10 years in the making for Gonzalez, who began her food manufacturing journey in her own kitchen using her family’s 30-year-old dip recipe.

Gonzalez became a local success story when she got her Dip It by Pilar products in H-E-B stores in 2016 after becoming a two-time winner of the Mission Economic Development Corporation’s (MEDC) Shark Tank-style Ruby Red Ventures program.

Eventually, Gonzalez became a consultant for other businesses looking to grow their brand and opened up her plant operations to smaller companies, such as I Love Chamoy — the California-based brand that went viral on social media in 2022.

Now, with the Safe Quality Food certification, Pilar and Habibi Gourmet have taken the next step in food manufacturing.

The Mission-based plant will begin producing H-E-B chamoy and chilito gummies later this year.​

But even though Habibi Gourmet has expanded operations to larger retailers, Gonzalez still wants to prioritize partnerships with smaller outfits.

“Our next step is not only growing, but opening the doors for small businesses that need all these resources and all this consulting and guidance to grow their brands, either to jump into the H-E-B market, Walmart, Target, Amazon. We want to open doors for them and give them the opportunity,” the CEO said.

She explained that the manufacturing and consulting company can assist in cooking and creating recipes or developing marketing plans, regardless of the brand’s size.

“We have the knowledge, we have the experience, we have the facility. The only thing you need to do is have a good product and go sell it,” Gonzalez said. “We’ll take care of the rest.”

Mission EDC Communications & Public Relations Manager Candace Rodriguez called Gonzalez the poster child for an entrepreneur, adding that her success is a testament to the talent that comes out of the Mission community.

“Her story demonstrates the long-term impact economic development corporations can have when communities invest in these entrepreneurs,” Rodriguez said. “So it’s really been rewarding — especially now that she’s received the [SQF] certification because it shows that this kind of world-class manufacturing is happening right here in our own backyard. And it proves that our small businesses, specifically here in Mission, can grow into these sophisticated operations and meet these national and international standards.”