Gran Luchito, which offers a range of soft taco wraps, tortilla chips, salsas, toppings and seasonings, has added to its leadership team with two new hires.
Paul Vita has been appointed as the Mexican food brand’s managing director, alongside Naomi Course as national account manager and category specialist.
Vita joins from Italian food company Crosta & Mollica, where he held the role of marketing and European Business & ESG director.
He brings with him expertise in steering both category-defining brands and family-run businesses to commercial and consumer success, in the UK and internationally. Previous career accomplishments include scaling Thomas J Fudge’s, The One Brand, and Labeyrie Fine Foods.
With previous experience working at Majestic, The Hain Celestial Group, and more recently holding the position of national account manager & category specialist at LiveKindly Collective, Course will be responsible for maintaining and building strong relationships with key customers including Sainsbury’s, Ocado, and independent retailers in her new role.
The appointments follow a period of strong retail demand across the UK for Gran Luchito, with the business set to launch new products and range expansions, as well as increased marketing investment in the pipeline.
“It feels like consumers are underserved with the existing Mexican brands currently available in the supermarkets, and they are increasingly looking for a better tasting, more interesting and authentic brand,” said Vita.
“The Gran Luchito team has done a fabulous job of getting us to where we are today, but this is our opportunity to inspire consumers and showcase what real Mexican food tastes like. We may be small but Gran Luchito means ‘Great Little Fighter’ in Spanish, which is what we plan to do!”
“I’m delighted to have joined the Gran Luchito team. The passion and love for authentic Mexican products is a huge asset to the brand and I am looking forward to contributing to the fantastic growth that Gran Luchito is already experiencing,” Course added on her own appointment.
Commenting further, Fergus Chamberlain, founder of Gran Luchito, said the duo’s forward thinking, creative vision, strong expertise and commercial relationships “makes them the perfect partners” to help the company achieve its “strategic growth in the UK and beyond” as it looks to make its mark in UK as ‘the most-loved’ Mexican brand.
