Not all places in the United States can pull off the specific taste of authentic Mexican food, and Food Flight, a new business from El Paso, has decided to change that.
Food Flight ships signature Mexican foods from local restaurants and stores in El Paso to many areas across the nation.
“Items and products, such as Chicos Tacos, menudo, green chile and products like that, they just can’t be found with the same genuine taste in other cities around the United States,” said Leila Melendez, UTEP alumni and founder of Food Flight. “We know that no one does Mexican food like El Paso does, not even San Antonio or South Texas match the quality.”
Food Flight begins by buying the ingredients and products once the orders are placed and then freezing them until the shipment is made to guarantee freshness. is shipped to their buyers. The delivery takes about two days, depending on the distance. takes about two days, depending on the distance.
“My husband and I have thought When an order is confirmed, Food Flight securely packages the items within insulated bags with ice packs to assure satisfaction of the client, and then the food plenty about how El Paso’s Mexican food has the signature of being more Mexican than food from any other place in the United States,” Melendez said. “It is definitely our own thing and, being proud of it, we want to share it with as many people as possible.”
Javier and Leila Melendez have just started up their business and are taking notice of its future potential.
“My wife and I are perfecting the system, our process and our capacity,” Melendez said. “We do what we can for our customers and their satisfaction. We are so proud of being able to share a taste of home to the rest of the country.”
The idea for Food Flight came from Leila Melendez doing the same technique with her own family members in the past. Whenever Melendez traveled to Dallas, she would take several pounds of chorizo and green chile in her suitcase to her family.
Leila Melendez said they first started their business with family and friends to test out the interest. She said it wasn’t hard to find a market for their business and its products.
“At first we didn’t buy a lot of material, for we weren’t sure if the concept had merit. However, just a couple of weeks ago, it went viral,” Leila Melendez said. “That’s when we quickly realized how many people across the United States valued and missed the flavors of El Paso.”
Food Flight has shipped to several places in Texas and other places as far away as New York, Washington, Nebraska and Florida.
Josh Paredes, junior chemistry major, said if he lived far away from El Paso, he would consider Food Flight.
“I would think that shipping food to other parts of the nation is a bit impractical, since there are Mexican food stores in many cities,” Paredes said. “But the food from El Paso really has its own peculiar taste I would totally think about buying.”
For more information, Food Flight may be contacted on their Facebook, or through their website at foodflightelp.com.
Jesus Lopez may be reached at [email protected].
