Bringing premium culinary products to gourmet enthusiasts and discerning foodies in the United States, Hernán is a unique brand with a wide variety of product offerings. From authentic Mole Pipián, Mole Poblano, and Mexican Hot Chocolate—available in a powder, tabillas, bolitas, and even skulls—to gift sets, culinary tools, cookware, and more, Hernán is committed to providing forward-thinking products rooted in Mexican tradition to consumers.
I recently had an opportunity to meet Hernán’s Founder and President Isela Hernandez and learn a little about the company and its award-winning products.
“Hernán is a brand of premium Mexican culinary products that includes specialty foods and kitchenware,” Isela tells me. “All of our products are made in Mexico. We partner with artisans and producers in Mexico, many of whom are expanding beyond their local origins for the first time. I launched the brand in 2007, and as the result of the success of one of Mexican kitchen tools—a molinillo (Mexican hot chocolate frother)—we decided to launch a Mexican hot chocolate to sell with it.”
The company’s sofi™ Award-winning chocolate, Isela tells me, is a “true” Mexican chocolate. Made with organic cacao beans harvested in a bio-diversified plantation in Chiapas, Mexico, Hernán’s chocolates—which simmer to a truly frothy hot chocolate with a molinillo—can offer an ideal accompaniment to any number of baked treats, brie cheeses, berries, and more. And with a variety of complementary items, Hernán’s products are a virtual retail destination on their own.
“Hernán seeks to promote Mexican culinary traditions. Our product line offers retailers an opportunity to cross merchandise the Mexican kitchenware with our food products,” says Isela. “For example our ollas de barro and molinillos can be cross merchandised with our Mexican hot chocolate, allowing consumers to authentically experience the tradition of drinking Mexican chocolate—a tradition that dates back to the ancient indigenous people in Mexico, the birthplace of drinking chocolate. Retailers can purchase prepackaged gift sets directly from us or can put their own together in house.”
With an attractive brand that celebrates Mexican culture and calls out the natural origins of the company’s products, Hernán’s products are ideal to add unique and festive flavor to specialty food stores, deli and bakery departments, and restaurant menus.
And Hernán is at work growing its already-diverse product line with new offerings for retail and foodservice. The company’s Mole Poblano is now available for foodservice. Additionally, Hernán currently has a new “Con Café” flavor of Mexican chocolate in the works that—in its mingling of coffee and cacao—Isela tells me, reflects the taste of the jungle of Chiapas—where colonial influences and indigenous co-exist. The new flavor is expected to arrive in specialty and gourmet stores throughout the U.S. in winter of this year.
For more on this and other unique companies in our industry, stay tuned to Deli Market News.
