Being In Business & Being Himself - Enrique Martin del Campo, 74C05 Taco Kits
Enrique Martin del Campo
Interview with Business Owner, 74C05 Taco Kits
Latest Update:
Enrique’s family has relocated and the taco kit business is no longer operating, but I’ve decided to keep this story alive on my blog because it’s worth reading. I hope you enjoy it!
-Tania
“What I love about this country is that, in my opinion, if you are a law-abiding citizen, making an honest living, you can work in any job without prejudice,” Enrique states confidently from across my living room. At that moment I realized that all my life, being born and raised in Canada, I had taken this aspect of our culture for granted.
Although it was back in May 2022 when I interviewed Enrique, the story he shared about his early experiences with food back in Mexico, and the words he expressed about business, community and family remain fresh in my mind. You will soon get to know him more in our Q&A section, but first, let’s go over the basics!
The goods
Originally from Mexico City, Enrique Martin del Campo is the founder of local taco kit company 74CO5 (which spells “TACOS” in numbers and letters). His business makes it possible to enjoy healthy, authentic Mexican tacos at home – convenient and ready in 15 minutes.
From selecting the best ingredients, cooking in small batches, to delivering orders to customers, Enrique is involved in every step to bring his flavourful and preservative-free taco kits to our doors.
Although 74CO5 was only recently established in 2020, Enrique and his wife Sandra have lived in Canada for over 20 years now after immigrating from Mexico. They have two school-aged sons and currently live in the Steveston Village community here in Richmond, BC, Canada.
Last school year, my family placed an order from 74CO5 as part of my son’s school fundraiser – and loved it! Since then we became repeat customers, and made a new friend too!
The reason
Family was a driving force behind Enrique’s decision to start up 74CO5. Enrique wanted a job that would give him the flexibility to be present with his family.
As a person with a spouse and two kids myself – I can definitely relate. So in addition to being a paying customer, I want to help my friend to succeed by sharing his story on Steveston People.
Q&A with Enrique Martin del Campo
What was your experience with food while growing up in Mexico?
Enrique: I come from a very large family of eight siblings. We weren’t millionaires or anything - just middle class. Since we were such a large household living in Mexico City – a relatively expensive place to live – both my mother and father had to work in order to support the family.
It wasn’t uncommon for families in similar situations like ours to hire maids to assist at home while the parents went out to work. In our household, we had one maid taking care of the chores and another maid responsible for cooking and other tasks.
In Mexico, the maids that assisted households were usually amazing cooks who brought with them their own family recipes passed down from earlier generations. So fortunately for me, I grew up being used to home-cooked meals that were tasty and wholesome. In addition to great home-cooking, I was influenced by the rich street food scene in Mexico
too. In particular, I loved Tacos Al Pastor. And believe or not, those tacos did not originate from Mexico.
In the 1930’s Lebanese immigrants introduced lamb shawarma to central Mexico. The local Mexicans adopted the shawarma technique of cooking marinated meat on a vertical spit (or grill). But instead of lamb, they used pork, Mexican spices and pineapple to create the Tacos Al Pastor that we know today. Al Pastor in Spanish translates to “Shepherd Style” in English, and refers to the original cooking method.
And of course, since those were my favourite, the Al Pastor is the signature product of my taco business amongst the other varieties of tacos that we sell.
What do you like about running a taco business in Canada?
Enrique: What I love about this country is that, in my opinion, if you are a law-abiding citizen, making an honest living, you can work in any job without prejudice.
What I mean is that nobody here would look down on me for selling tacos. But back in Mexico, some people would make jokes like, “If you lost your corporate job, what are you going to do? Sell tacos?” suggesting that selling tacos is some sort of social downgrade or last resort for a job. But not here. I can show up wearing shorts and sneakers, carrying my taco kits in a generic-looking cooler bag, and people will respect me just the same.
I’m really happy with what I do right now.
As a small business with limited resources, where do you focus your energy?
Enrique: Our focus is, and always has been, on delivering high quality food at an affordable price. We also put our efforts into getting to know our customers and keeping them happy – the relationships.
We really appreciate it when people give us good Google reviews and exposure by sharing on social media. Because the most genuine and effective type of advertising – word-of-mouth – can’t be bought with money.
What do you love about living and working in the Steveston community?
Enrique: If I won the lottery, I would give a lot of money back to this community. People here are so supportive. They are willing to try new things and give businesses like ours a chance – even tell their friends and family about us.
You’re not exactly a one-man show at 74CO5, so can you tell us a bit about your wife Sandra?
Enrique: If it was not for my wife Sandra, this business would not be a reality. She is so well organized and keeps me on track with my schedule. At home my sons and I refer to Sandra as the “tour manager”.
In addition to helping me with the tacos business and being a busy mom, she also works as an administrator at an accounting firm. So as you can see, my wife is super hard-working. She is fantastic – a real team player! And we have been together for 30 years.
In addition to your role as a business owner and a husband, you’re also a dad. What are your thoughts on being a parent?
Enrique: I don’t want to make people think that I’m a perfect dad – I’m not. But I believe that as parents we need to make sacrifices for the sake of our kids, especially when it comes to choosing how we spend our time. Parenting requires a great deal of self-control and self-discipline.
My sons are 10 and 15 years old, and this is the time when I want to be present everyday and help and assist in any way I can. Not that I want them to be famous or pop stars, but we all went through that phase in our youth when we all felt insecure. So now as parents, we have to make our kids feel proud of who they are, where they belong, and who their parents are.
Unlike those pre-kid party days of my youth, now most of my days are dedicated to raising and guiding my sons – and following their interests too!
Even though I am not their “friend”, I will always try to be a friendly dad – aiming to build my relationship with each of my son’s upon kindness, trust and respect.
