FRISCO, Texas — Read this story and more North Texas business news from our partners at the Dallas Business Journal
A manufacturer of frozen Mexican food has opened its new headquarters at an emerging mixed-use business park in Frisco, where it will ultimately employ more than 100 people.
Executives from Ruiz Foods Products Inc. and members from the Frisco Chamber of Commerce gathered March 6 for a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the company’s new home at Hall Park, off Gaylord Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway. The company’s new corporate home base spans 25,000 square feet and aims to employ 125 workers by August 2026.
Formerly based in Dinuba, Calif., Ruiz Foods first had its eye on North Texas after naming Frisco a regional headquarters in 2022 in an effort to be more centrally located. Later in 2023, the company announced Frisco as its sole office headquarters, which led to it consolidating its California and Texas headquarters facilities.
"It got to a place where we felt like in order to have better access to our customers and also to our own facilities we wanted to be in the center of the country," said Kimberli Carroll, president and CEO of Ruiz Foods. "We decided that North Dallas would be one of the areas we wanted to look at."
Ruiz Foods' new home allows the company to better serve customers and its five facilities across Texas, California and South Carolina, Carroll said. The Frisco location also provides the company with access to talent in many sectors deemed critical, including information technology, marketing and consumer products.
Furthermore, the city of Frisco agreed to pay Ruiz Foods $250,000 over the next four years as part of an economic incentives package contingent on the company making 125 local hires. That equates to about $2,000 per worker, and so far the company has received $50,000, about a fifth of the total sum, Carroll told Dallas Business Journal. About 90 people currently work at the company's new home in Frisco.
Carroll added the company has also started to engage itself in community volunteering efforts, including with Habitat for Humanity, and has contributed to local charities.
Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney added he believes Ruiz’s decision to move to Frisco is a testament to the city’s "strategic advantages and opportunity."
"With more than 125 new Frisco-based jobs, Ruiz Foods' growth positively contributes to Frisco's thriving economy," Cheney said in a statement.
Christal Howard, interim president and CEO of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that the company’s values of innovation, quality, respect and teamwork align with those of Frisco.
The company also operates a packaging plant in Denison, just south of the Oklahoma border. At the end of 2023, the food manufacturer opened an on-site health center for those working at the plant and their family members.
Ruiz Foods, which calls itself the largest frozen Mexican food manufacturer in the United States, is a family-owned business that was founded in 1964. Its most popular brands include El Monterey and Tornados, and it makes burritos, taquitos and enchiladas. The company employs more than 4,000 across its facilities.
Ruiz is not the only food manufacturer to move to North Texas in recent months. Hispanic food maker Cacique Foods last year moved its corporate headquarters to Texas from California. Other food and beverage manufacturers that call Dallas-Fort Worth home include Frito-Lay, which is owned by PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper, both in Plano.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from Ruiz Foods CEO Kimberli Carroll.
