What if instead of waiting for a big brand to buy you out, you just built something bigger on your own terms?

That's exactly what Stefanie Garcia Turner, Regina Trillo, and Jocelyn Ramirez did when they merged their three beloved brands - Tuyyo Foods, Nemi Snacks, and Todo Verde - into one powerhouse under the Tuyyo Foods umbrella. And the food industry is paying attention.

In this episode, host Sarah Perkins sits down with the full executive team behind Tuyyo Foods 2.0 for a conversation that covers everything: Growing up with food as an act of love, building brands that push back against tired stereotypes of Latino culture, and why three solo founders decided that coming together was the boldest move they could make.

Stefanie spent nearly a decade at Whole Foods before launching Tuyyo's original agua fresca mixes, a better-for-you answer to Kool-Aid, inspired by her grandmother's grapefruit tree and her love for the powdered drink format. 

Regina left a legal career in human rights to found Nemi Snacks after being struck by how underrepresented and stereotyped Latino food was on American grocery shelves — and how a nopal cactus chip could change that. 

And Jocelyn launched Todo Verde in LA after years as a social justice professor and chef, bringing taco seasonings inspired by real Mexican flavors to a market that had settled for cornstarch and mild spice packets for way too long.

They met through trade shows, DMs, and a shared fellowship. The merger idea was planted on an airport ride back from Texas, and within months it was a reality. No big buyout. No waiting around. Just three women who decided to grow better together.

This one covers the exciting stuff and the real stuff — what it actually takes to merge three companies, how to communicate with co-founders when things get hard, what it means to keep showing up for your community in a moment when so much feels scary, and the single Mexican tablescape vision that has retailers buzzing.

In this episode, we cover:

• How food showed up as love in each of their families growing up
• Stefanie's journey from Whole Foods and The Honest Company to founding Tuyyo Foods
• Regina leaving law to create Nemi Snacks and finding nopal farmers in Mexico
• Jocelyn's pivot from social justice professor to chef, cookbook author, and Todo Verde founder
• How they each met and what planted the seed for the merger
• The nitty gritty of merging three CPG brands — attorneys, operations, finance, branding
• Why they landed on Tuyyo (spoiler: "tú y yo" means you and me)
• The Mexican tablescape vision: chips, agua fresca, taco seasoning, and a new mole paste coming soon
• How they're showing up for their communities right now
• What fills each of their cups — and how they've built a culture of vulnerability together

Connect with Tuyyo Foods:

• Website: tuyyofoods.com (launching soon with all products + store locator!)
• Instagram: @tuyyofoods
• Nemi Snacks: @nemisnacks
• Todo Verde: @todoverdela

Subscribe to The Perfect Bite podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! Want to watch the entire episode? Head here to our YouTube!

You can follow us on social media @perfectbitepod and sign up for our newsletter!