PepsiCo accelerator prize enables ¡Ya Oaxaca! to scale, expand demosPepsiCo accelerator prize enables ¡Ya Oaxaca! to scale, expand demos

For Chef Susana Trilling and her family, ¡Ya Oaxaca! is more than a business—it’s a way to bring the vibrant flavors of their Oaxaca City, Mexico heritage to U.S. kitchens. Recently the artisanal food company reached a significant limestone that will help them do just that.

In December, ¡Ya Oaxaca! won PepsiCo’s Greenhouse Accelerator Program: Juntos Crecemos Edition. The achievement comes with a $100,000 grant and marks a pivotal moment in the brand’s journey to influence how Americans experience authentic mole sauces, adobos, and salsas.

¡Ya Oaxaca! co-founder and CEO Azul Couzens, left, and Operations Director Jesse Ulrich accept the Greenhouse Accelerator award at PepsiCo headquarters.

“When you're in start-up mode, every day is a blur of activity to maintain momentum. The expertise and mentorship from the Greenhouse Accelerator Program: Juntos Crecemos Edition allowed us to rise out of the day-to-day of running the business to think critically about where we are, where we’ve been, where we’re headed, and most importantly, how to get there,” says Azul Couzens, CEO and co-founder of ¡Ya Oaxaca! “Now we have the structure to stay focused on what is most important to continue growing.”

The Greenhouse Accelerator aims to foster the growth of high-potential consumer packaged food and beverage companies inspired by Hispanic flavors and cultures that are better for people and the planet. Over five months, eight finalists received $20,000 grants and one-on-one coaching from PepsiCo experts in areas like R&D, supply chain, design and brand strategy. ¡Ya Oaxaca! applied these learnings to grow its revenue an impressive 350%, expand retail distribution by 200%, improve operational efficiencies and increase gross margins.

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“PepsiCo’s experts guided us in refining our product mix and channel assortment by focusing on the consumer’s perspective,” explains Couzens. “They challenged us to think beyond just creating great-tasting products to consider how we can build around specific consumer use occasions.”

Azul Couzens, co-founder and CEO of ¡Ya Oaxaca!, celebrates the brand’s NEXTY Award for Best New Pantry Food at Natural Products Expo West 2024.

¡Ya Oaxaca! evolved from Trilling’s beloved Seasons of My Heart Cooking School, located northwest of Oaxaca City, Mexico, where she’s taught visitors how to make traditional Mexican dishes since 1993. In 2021, she co-founded ¡Ya Oaxaca! with her son Azul Couzens.

Supported by her other two sons—Jesse Ulrich, who manages operations, and Kaelin Ulrich, who manages research and recipe development—Trilling created a line of mole sauces inspired by traditional Mexican cooking, family recipes and Oaxaca’s local artist community. Since then, the product line has expanded to include adobo, salsa and escabeche made with ingredients like organic criollo corn, wild garlic, smoked chiles and house-made chocolate. All of ¡Ya Oaxaca!’s products are gluten-free, vegan, contain no artificial colors or preservatives, and are made from Mexico-sourced ingredients. This approach ensures the flavors remain authentic while supporting local farmers, producers, and communities.

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The PepsiCo grant will fuel ¡Ya Oaxaca!’s plans to scale operations in 2025 through an expanded in-store demo program and broader retail distribution. But for the Trilling family, growth is about more than just numbers.

“Success for us in the next five years goes beyond the jar,” Couzens says. “As we’ve scaled, so have the farmers, producers, and partners who’ve supported us from our first jar to our millionth. Our vision is to continue expanding not only our product reach, but also the positive impact we have on the communities we work with.”

¡Ya Oaxaca! has grown from a family kitchen project into a national brand available at major retailers like Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, and Gelson’s. But every step of the way, the company stayed true to its core values of authenticity and sustainability.

¡Ya Oaxaca! has added adobo, salsa and escabeche—made with ingredients like organic criollo corn, wild garlic, smoked chiles—to its product line.

“Participating in the Greenhouse Accelerator Program gave us validation to stay the course,” Couzens noted. “For us, sustainability translates to growth that can be sustained. By staying true to our ingredients and recipes, we can sustain growth for our suppliers and producers in Mexico and our operations in the U.S.”

The company’s focus on sourcing ingredients and producing in Mexico highlights a commitment to its origins and the communities that make its products possible. From mole negro and spicy salsas to smoky adobos and product labels designed by Oaxacan artists, each jar tells a story of tradition, innovation, and cultural pride.

Couzens encourages other emerging food brands to pursue opportunities like the Juntos Crecemos program. “The guidance they offer can help sustain and grow your business, all while staying true to your brand,” he says. “For ¡Ya Oaxaca!, that means continuing to bring the flavors of Oaxaca to more tables and creating meaningful impacts in the communities we work with.”