My question to Nueva Cocina

[sleepydvdr]

Not really a product review, but I'll give my insight on a couple of their products afterwards. Here's an email I just sent this company - it is self-explanatory:


I love your products and have tried quite a few of them. I am vegan, so a couple things about your company baffle me. I am just curious, I'm not complaining. First, the back of your Mexican Rice Mix states all of your products are "free of animal products", yet I found two soups you offer contain milk/cream/butter (meaning not all your products are completely free of animal products). Second, if your company is supposed to be a vegetarian company, why do you make recommendations and offer recipes that contain meat? Once again, I'm not complaining. I guess I'm just trying to figure out your company's "mission statement".

I'll post their reply when I get it.

OK, to make this post legit, here's a food review: tonight, I just had their "Arroz A La Mexicana" (Mexican Rice Mix) - very good stuff. I ate half the package! It makes two big bowls rice with corn & green peas (spice packet included). It was a little light on the salt, so I added a bit. It would make an excellent side dish (but it was my main dish tonight). It is vegan. I got it for $2.50. And follow the directions precisely and it will come out perfect. I give it a 9 out of 10.

I have also tried their Chipotle Taco Seasoning mix. It was good, but they put raisins in it. That put me off a bit, but otherwise, it was a fairly tasty spice mix. If they would lose the raisins, it would be a real winner. I give this one a 7.5 out of 10.

[sleepydvdr]

No word from Nueva Cocina yet... BUT!!!

I found another mistake! This time from a company called Simply Asia. They have many noodle dishes that are vegan. Tonight I glanced at a couple of their products I haven't noticed before. Particularly interesting was the "Honey Teriyaki" that was supposedly vegan. The ingredient list confirms it - it does have honey.

Also in the past, if I'm correct in my memory, I noticed one of their dishes claimed to have milk, but didn't - it had coconut milk. It was the Thai Ginger rice noodle bowl. I'll double check on this. But that would be two mistakes on their part. Claiming one dish to be vegan (and it isn't) and claiming another was not vegan (and it was).

More updates as I get them....

[NotYet]

I sell both of these products at my store. Keep me updated, I've been recommending these to vegans (Except the honey one of course!).

[sleepydvdr]

Still no answer; it's been almost two weeks. So, I emailed them again (using a different name :shifty:).


I am confused by something. I am vegan and I read on your Arroz A La Mexicana package that all your products were free of animal ingredients. However, your Paella package says it contains anchovy extract.

Anchovies are fish. That's an animal. Fish are not plants. At the very least, you should change your packaging to keep it honest.

I just discovered the Paella with anchovies two days ago. So, that got me all hyped up on it again. If they don't answer me this time, they are just plain slack.

[NotYet]

Aw. This really sucks. Keep us updated, I may e-mail my corporate office and see what I can do about figuring these things out. Strings to be pulled and whatnot. LOL

R

[sleepydvdr]

Still no response to either of my email accounts. I would expect at least something from a corporation this big. I have emailed dozens of corporations in the past and all except one other company (Terra Chips) has given some kind of response to my inquiries.

Nueva Cocina seems to be expanding rapidly (at least where I am) and usually companies like that are eager to talk, listen, take suggestions, and answer questions. From their silence, I get the impression they are saying "These are our products. Take it or leave it." Good companies give consumers what they want.

And if anyone is interested in the Terra Chips situation, I emailed them back when I was vegetarian and asked if their Worcestershire sauce powder used in their Zesty Tomato Terra Chips contained anchovies. Most Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies, but not all, and considering that all their products seem to be vegan or vegetarian, I thought maybe it didn't contain anchovies. Simple question, right? I emailed them three times. And two of the three times was because I was building a website for a store with some veg*n product information and I mentioned that in the emails. No response. That company must be slack, too. Surely if a web developer is trying to obtain information about their product and they don't respond, something is wrong with the company's customer service. I still buy their products on occasion, but I don't brag about them anymore. Same thing will probably happen with Nueva Cocina.