Tocaya Organica is a Modern Mexican fast casual brand that has locations in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Phoenix. As of 2021, there are 18 total locations with plans to expand throughout 2022. At the helm of the pandemic, Tocaya saw catering sales decline as offices and businesses shut down entirely. However, as business began to pick up in 2021, Catering Sales Manager, Megan, noticed a few powerful trends. “2021 has been a really different story, we’ve definitely seen increases in orders. And I think kind of the biggest trend that we’re seeing right now is the need for individually packaged orders”, she explains. Although not exclusive to Tocaya, the need for individually packed meals has clearly seen a rise as customers begin making decisions based on proximity and health as opposed to simply feeding their people.
A major stand out for Tocaya has been their brand image and packaging that still meets the requirements of a sustainable and locally sourced business. Tocaya serves only the freshest meats and fish; 100% free of hormones, steroids, and antibiotics. While the focus has always been providing the best product possible, the mission has also been “making choices that have a positive impact on our health, our communities, and the future of our planet.” That quote can be found listed proudly in bold on their website. So when asked about the packaging specifically, Megan shared, “That was something that was very fun but a very long project…We always kind of try and evaluate things from a user perspective of, “is it effective and efficient packaging?”, but also does it kind of fall in line with our brand standards of trying to reduce things that can’t be recycled.”
If you’d like to hear more from Megan and Tocaya, please check out the link below to the DeliveringMore Podcast.