SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Ricos Products Co., the family business in San Antonio that turned cheese sauce and tortilla chips into a ballpark staple, is changing hands after more than a century under the Liberto family.
Empresas Polar, a Venezuelan food and beverage group, announced Friday that it has acquired Ricos through its subsidiary Alimentos Polar International Inc. Neither side disclosed a price. The buyer said Ricos will keep its headquarters in San Antonio.
Ricos traces its start to a grocery store the Liberto family opened in the city in 1909, after Rosario Liberto came to Louisiana from Italy. Five generations have run it since. In 1976 the company introduced concession nachos in Dallas, built around a sturdier chip and warm, shelf-stable cheese sauce, and the snack spread to stadiums, theaters and festivals around the world.
Today the Southtown headquarters includes a store for wholesale customers and a museum on the company history, and Ricos runs a manufacturing plant in Dallas. Beyond cheese sauce it sells chips, popcorn and other snacks.
Chief executive Tony Liberto, whose father created the nacho cheese sauce, said the new owner will help the company grow faster, add products and reach more customers, and he thanked employees and partners. Empresas Polar president and CEO Lorenzo Mendoza said his company plans to invest in Ricos while keeping its family legacy and local roots.
Empresas Polar began as a brewery in 1941 and still brews Polar Pilsner. It has grown its U.S. footprint over the last 15 years, including a beer and malt beverage plant in Florida and a grain and cereal plant in Greenville, Texas.
Section: More San Antonio TX business news
Filed under: San Antonio TX Business News
