Mexican-Food Maker Hitches Its Star to a Nearby Galaxy

Executives at Embasa Foods aren’t losing any sleep over the fact that Los Angeles and Orange County face another season without a National Football League franchise. The way they see it, who needs a bunch of guys in Rams and Raiders uniforms when they’re allied with one of the hottest tickets in town--the Major Soccer League’s Los Angeles Galaxy franchise?

The Buena Park-based company is betting that soccer will be a natural marketing vehicle for its line of Mexican food products. Embasa, formerly known as Ingro Mexican Foods, moved its 25-person corporate and manufacturing staff from Carson to Buena Park on April 1.

Embasa, which has been selling its products in the U.S. for 25 years, hopes to build brand awareness through a marketing campaign that incorporates sponsorships of MSL teams in Los Angeles, San Jose and Dallas. “We’re the official Jalapeno chile of the Galaxy,” said Glenn D. Rothenberg, Embasa’s director of marketing. “This is an alliance that was made for us.”

Embasa is owned by Ignacio Hernandez, chief executive officer of Corfuerte Group, one of Mexico’s largest food-holding companies. It imports chiles, salsas and nopalitos from Mexico and produces mole--a chile-based sauce enriched with cocoa, roasted peanuts and cinnamon--at the Buena Park plant.

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Greg Johnson covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5950 and at greg.johnson@latimes.com