DENVER — Tres Picosos, maker of authentic Mexican burritos for convenience stores and foodservice operations, is introducing three new flavors to its existing line of grab-and-go offerings.
The new flavors are Picadillo Beef with ground beef, diced potatoes, green chiles and cheddar; Pork Carnitas with slow-cooked pork shoulder, cilantro lime rice, seasoned pinto beans verde, tomatillo salsa and Monterey Jack cheese; and Western Breakfast with scrambled eggs, pork sausage, hash browns, green chiles and cheddar, each wrapped in new colorfully labeled brown-paper packaging designed to grab the attention of the hurried convenience-store customer.
The original five Tres Picosos burritos—Bacon Breakfast, Chicken Fajita, Chipotle Chicken, Sausage Breakfast and Taco Beef—now also sport the new packaging. All eight flavors are available nationwide to distributors through Dot Foods Inc.
“Americans’ palates are getting more picoso,” said Jane Hartgrove, president of Tres Picosos, based in Denver. “They want hotter, more layered flavors with a bolder taste. Convenience retailers don’t need another burrito; they need a better burrito.”
To develop the three new flavors, Tres Picosos turned to its retail sister company, Naughty Chile Taqueria, which offers a variety of combinations that appeal to Tres Picosos customers’ taste profiles. Tres Picosos half-pound burrito recipes emphasize green chile and salsa verde to appeal to today’s more sophisticated but always hurried c-store shopper.
“We’re blessed to have an inside lens into what customers are buying,” said Hartgrove. “So we picked winning flavors already proven successful at our Naughty Chile Taquerias.”
The updated logo and packaging complement the added new and existing menu items, while projecting an authentic Mexican character, the company said. The trend for sustainable packaging is reflected in the brown kraft paper wrapper, giving the product a rustic, old-school Mexican look. Tres Picosos also created new point-of-purchase materials so convenience retailers can easily promote these bolder flavors.