Playing the long game in scaling up a business is a cumbersome process and often met with disinterest from would-be partners.

Karina Saldivar’s Amor Y Pan in Brownsville was established as a successful health lifestyle market and bakery by 2024. Her business ambitions always extended outward beyond one location to getting her products on grocery store shelves. Getting to that goal via phone calls and introductory e-mails and receiving no interest in return is like an aspiring romance going nowhere, Saldivar said.

“It’s like having a bad boyfriend who doesn’t return phone calls,” Saldivar said of her rounds of outreach efforts to major grocers.

The Right Relationship

It was a roughly three-year “waiting game,” she said, before the proverbial “I know a guy who knows a guy” connection kicked in for Saldivar’s business. A distributor friend of Saldivar’s said he would put in a word for her with H-E-B.

“That was our breakthrough,” she said.

From there, Saldivar was invited to attend a Central Market showcase in Dallas. Central Markets are H-E-B’s high-end stores and are located in the grocer’s biggest urban markets. Saldivar’s energetic sales pitch combined with her unique product – a healthier version of the Mexican condiment chamoy – made a positive impression. Fast forward to the present and Amor Y Pan’s Chamorganic product is now being shelved at Central Markets in San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas.

“You discover that this whole process isn’t only about the perfection of your product, but also about getting a chance to show what you’ve got,” Saldivar said. “The process is difficult. I won’t sugarcoat it. You can’t get too discouraged and give up.”

Getting Noticed

A “2025 Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year” award leans on a wall behind the main counter at Amor Y Pan. 

“Presented to Karina M. Saldivar,” the award from the Small Business Administration states. For Saldivar, the May 2025 SBA award is the sweetener atop her recent successes. Amor Y Pan’s chamoy product is in major Texas markets and has also gained entrance into the Monterrey market. It reflects Saldivar’s cross-border entrepreneurship and her production operations in Matamoros. 

Chamoy itself is a classic bicultural product with deep Mexican roots. It is a sweet, salty and spicy Mexican condiment that has been used for generations as a topping for fruits, candies and drinks. Chamoy products of different varieties are widely available in Wal-Marts and Target stores and other major retail outlets.

Amor Y Pan’s version of chamoy is a tasty and healthier alternative to the usual fare. Chamorganic is sugar-free, keto-friendly, vegan and low-carb. There are no artificial colors or preservatives. Its ingredients include hibiscus flower, a mix of chili powder, organic stevia leaf extract and lime. The product’s original recipe came from Gina Escubedo, a Pan Y Amor employee, with fine tuning from Saldivar.

“We’re still getting noticed by vendors and customers,” Saldivar said of the newness of Chamorganic on Central Market shelves. “To says we’ve made it is premature.”

Time To Grow

Looking back, Saldivar is grateful for that three-year “waiting period” when she worked to get the attention of major grocers like H-E-B.

It allowed her time to improve and get a better understanding of her product. Those were valuable years of establishing her small business in Brownsville. Saldivar was able to widen her business network and gain recognition from the SBA and the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation. It all raised Amor Y Pan’s profile and Saldivar said she “grew with my brand.”

She hopes to put additional Amor Y Pan products in stores and on grocery shelves. They include almond flour gorditas, and nopal and almond flower tortillas. Mixing her combination of running a health food store with Rio Grande Valley sensibilities while continuing to grow her brand in Texas and Mexico are what drives her to do even better.

“Even when you’re thriving, you need to ask yourself, ‘What can I do better?’’’