A local maker of beef jerky, Vaquero Snacks, will soon have their products stocked in Walmart stores nationwide after winning an on-the-spot deal from the big box retailer in October.
Vaquero’s journey to Walmart started in March when founders Chip Cruea and Ruben Reyes met company buyers at the Natural Products Expo West convention in Anaheim – which is attended by many food and beverage startups looking to meet with top distributors and retailers on the trade show floor.
“That’s how long it took for us to keep that back-and-forth alive,” Cruea told the Business Journal.
Later in September, they were asked to come and pitch Vaquero Snacks to the store manager of a Walmart Supercenter in Irvine, where they were instead surprised with an invitation to the retailer’s annual open call event for small businesses – a two-day event held at Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The company invited 500 business owners to pitch their products directly to buyers from both Walmart and its members-only warehouse brand, Sam’s Club. More than 100 companies were awarded a “golden ticket,” which means their products will be distributed in stores and online.
Vaquero Snacks not only won a golden ticket – the founders were told almost immediately that they won the distribution deal.
Cruea said they were “randomly” called up at the end of the first day to pitch the snack company on-stage in front of everyone in attendance, including top Walmart executives. After the founders were done, the company surprised them with the news.
“It’s life-changing,” Cruea said.
Vaquero’s beef jerky has been a hit with fitness consumers in the health and wellness market thanks to the use of natural products, according to Reyes.
“We blew past the $2 million mark” thus far in 2025 revenue, Cruea said. Reyes added that the venture has been self-funded.
Cruea said that with the Walmart expansion and a recent launch in 7-Eleven, the company could reach between $20 to $40 million in sales next year.
Vaquero Snacks will be available for sale at Walmart starting next spring.
Walmart says that more than 60% of its U.S. suppliers are small businesses.
Background
Cruea and Reyes, who met working in food distribution over five years ago, launched Vaquero Snacks in September 2024. They first entered retail stores in February, starting with Cardenas.
The beef jerky, with raw products sourced from the U.S., is slow-cooked and made in Covina. The duo plans to relocate production to Orange County once the ideal location becomes available.
“We want to make sure that we’re feeding people product that we would eat and that we would feed our families,” Cruea said.
The founders said they wanted Vaquero – Spanish for “cowboy” – to be a combination of their backgrounds.
Reyes honors his heritage with the snack itself, which he said was made years ago by Mexican cowboys. Cruea was able to incorporate his time as a diver on SEAL Team One by donating a portion of Vaquero’s proceeds to Heroes and Horses, a nonprofit founded by one of his former teammates that helps veterans with PTSD do a 40-day horseback riding and training program in Montana.
“The goal for us was to find something that resonates and then make a full circle and give back to our communities,” Cruea said.
As of October, Vaquero’s jerky can be found in 10,000 U.S. stores through 25 convenience store and retail partnerships.
