Old El Paso is a US-based but globally popular food brand offering Mexican and Tex-Mex^* cuisine that is easy to enjoy at home. General Mills, which makes and sells the products marketed under the Old El Paso brand, has designated Mitsubishi Shokuhin as the official Japanese distributor in recognition of the company’s marketing savvy and proven track record in working with mass retailers. The products will be available in Japan as of February 2024.
^* Tex-Mex is a blend of Mexican and American cuisine native to the US state of Texas.

One of the most popular Old El Paso products is the tortilla. Tortillas are a soft thin bread made mainly from wheat flour. In Tex-Mex cuisine, they are most famously used as a wrap for “taco meat,” which is ground meat that has been stir-fried. Old El Paso-branded tortillas became even better tasting in 2024 after the use of a preservative agent with a detectable smell was discontinued. The tortillas can be stored at room temperature for 10 months, making them a convenient pantry staple. They are also a good choice for outdoor activities.

Kiyoshi Kamaru from Unit A, Trade Group1 in the Imported Products Development Division explains how versatile tortillas are. “You can not only fill them with taco meat and vegetables,” he says, “you can also use them as a substitute pizza base, adding toppings and then baking. Or you can fill them with kinpiragobo and other cooked Japanese dishes or use them as a crepe substitute to make a sweet wrap. With tortillas able to be used in many different ways, I hope that they will become a familiar, everyday food for lots of people.”

Along with tortillas, Mitsubishi Shokuhin offers a total of 20 Old El Paso products including seasoning, taco sauce, salsa dipping sauce, sliced jalapeno peppers and corn chips.

“As for the seasoning,” continues Mr. Kamaru, “you can simply mix it with ground meat, avocado or other familiar ingredients. It is a product that you can use every day. The salsa sauce contains lots of chopped vegetables so I recommend it for people looking to add more vegetables to their diet and for children who do not like eating them.”

The following are some examples of dishes that can be made using Old El Paso products. All of them are easy to prepare by anyone: parents and children, couples or a group of friends.

●Guacamole Spice Mix

Guacamole Spice Mix is a seasoning used to make an avocado dip. You can use the dip in tortillas or taco shells^* or for dipping vegetable sticks and chips, giving you an easy way to up your vegetable intake. If you use frozen avocado, it’s even faster to prepare, which is convenient when you are pressed for time.
^* Used to make tacos, taco shells are hard U-shaped shells made from high-quality corn.

[How to cook]
1. Peel an avocado and then mash it.
2. Add the Guacamole Spice Mix to the mashed avocado and mix well.

●Taco Spice Mix

This seasoning is used exclusively for taco meat. Taco meat is an ingredient found in tortillas and tacos and, with the addition of chopped vegetables, can also be used to make taco rice. You can also snack on taco meat on its own with a beer. Kids will also like the mild (not very spicy) taste.

[Ingredients (serves four)]
Oil for cooking
Old El Paso Taco Spice Mix: One bag
Ground beef: 500g

[How to cook]
1.Put the oil into the frying pan. Stir-fry the ground beef until it changes color, then remove the excess fat.
2.Add the spice mix along with 200 grams of water and mix well.
3.Bring it to the boil, then turn the heat down low and let it simmer until all the water is gone.

●Original Taco Dinner Kit

Recommended for beginners: kit containing taco shells, Taco Spice Mix and taco sauce that makes preparing tacos a breeze. Add the Taco Spice Mix your stir-fried ground meat, scoop the cooked meat into the taco shells, add some salad (lettuce and tomato) and cheese, then drizzle with taco sauce.

●Nachos

Cover a layer of corn chips with chopped vegetables, salsa sauce, stir-fried ground meat, chili con carne^* and cheese and bake in the oven. Makes a great party dish.
^* Chili con carne: Cook by adding beans and tomatoes to stir-fried ground meat and then stewing with spicy seasoning

Nobuko Narita, leader of Trade Group1 the Imported Products Development Division’s Trade Group1, explains the Old El Paso slogan as follows: “The Old El Paso slogan is ‘Make Some Noise,’ which means Old El Paso products should be enjoyed at high volume. I hope our customers will eat them with their loved ones, sharing a nice meal of tortillas filled with their favorite ingredients.”

Enjoyable and delicious Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine is easy to prepare, making it a good choice for the upcoming Golden Week holiday in Japan, when people generally get together with their relatives and friends. The cuisine also goes well with beer, especially when the weather is hot.

Ms. Narita and Trade Group1 manager Takashi Mishiro are both hoping to brighten up the sales floor with Old El Paso products. “Tortillas tend to be sold in the chilled food section, vegetable chips in the snack section and taco sauce on the grocery shelves, so all are sold separately in different sections of the store,” says Mr. Mishiro. “But if we put all of the Old El Paso products together, customers can mix and match to create new dishes every time. So this is the kind of sales display we are going for.”

Adds Ms. Narita: “Old El Paso-branded products all feature the same iconic yellow packaging. One of General Mills’ aims is to create a wall of yellow in each store. So we want to offer a large enough assortment of Old El Paso products to make a yellow wall.”

If Mitsubishi Shokuhin is successful in its efforts, Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine may soon be popular among Japanese households.