Introducing: Paloma Extra Virgin Olive Oil

One Texas company is making it their mission to make Latinos healthier and they’re doing it one delicious drop at a time. Introducing: Salud de Paloma Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a top-quality extra virgin olive oil that will be available at an affordable price, making it accessible to lower- and moderate-income households, with branding that is familiar to Hispanics. 

The olive oil is produced by the Salud Corporation, the only minority-owned and Latina-managed olive company in Texas and a company formed by the nonprofit Business & Community Lenders of Texas as a social enterprise to promote healthy nutrition and habits.

Rosa Ríos Valdez, the founder of the Salud Corporation, was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and grew up with the farm-to-table experience: her father worked as a bracero in the Texas winter garden fields and brought home local farm-raised onions, cabbage, cantaloupe, and other produce. A University of Texas graduate, Ríos Valdez has worked with agribusiness and food producers for over twenty years and her business and commercial lending expertise led her to the Business & Community Lenders of Texas (BCL).

Since joining, Rios Valdez has grown BCL’s net assets thirty fold and in 2012 she led the formation of Salud Corporation.

“My mother was my Paloma,” said Rios Valdez. “She died 23 years ago from diabetes complications. My mother encouraged me to seek opportunities to create better communities. Aceite de Oliva Paloma was created to honor all our Palomas and foster the well-being of our families.” 

At Salud, the company strives to provide fresh and locally sourced food and ingredients, forge opportunities for minority-owned, women-led corporations, and innovate healthy food products.

“At Salud we say Nuestra Familia, Nuestra Salud (Our Family Our Health), make your family a priority,” said Rios Valez. “Teach them that eating healthy helps us live longer and happier. Buy Paloma and share it with the people you love.”

And not only is Salud making others feel good, they’re doing good as well: Salud will donate a portion of Paloma product earnings to women, minority, and veteran owned small businesses in Texas and create permanent job opportunities in the Tree-to-Table industry.

With a commitment to independent retail, Salud de Paloma is now on the shelves at Uncommon Fare and Melissa Guerra’s Latin Kitchen Market in San Antonio, as well as River City Market, Quickie Pickie, and Wheatsville Food Co-Op in Austin. They’re also present at weekly farmers markets: HOPE Famers Market in Austin and the Main Plaza Farmers Market in San Antonio.