Daily Inspiration: Meet Pablo/Catherine Orozco/Vidales

Today we’d like to introduce you to Pablo/Catherine Orozco/Vidales.

Hi Pablo/Catherine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Our story started 2 years ago. Me (Pablo) and my now fiance (Catherine) were recent ASU graduates and were working in the corporate world, mine being in the architecture field and hers in public health. We both are very much foodies and we always enjoyed breakfast, specifically bagels. While at a bagel shop one morning, we wondered how hard bagels were to make and if we could do it ourselves. The thought of making bagels stayed in our minds for a couple of months before we finally tried a simple recipe from online. One of the main reasons for making bagels when we thought of the idea, was the fact that our own community in South Phoenix, was lacking a quick breakfast spot and specifically a bagel spot. In South Phoenix, there isn’t an Einsteins and the closest bagel shops are 5+ miles away from our community. From there, we began testing recipes in our own little kitchen at home until we found a recipe that we felt reflected the roots of bagels and their history, but also reflected us in the flavors that are nostalgic to us.

We started creating a brand and presence to define what we wanted to be for our community. The name Bagelero came from our own culture of street food vendors. In every community, there’s always a paletero or elotero so we wanted to be the Bagelero for our community. We were okay with not including our names in our brand because like most street vendors, they remain nameless but their community is always supportive and gets to know their local -ero on their own. I also made our own Bagelero carrito to help solidify our brand and also express our love for our culture.

We started our first sales in our own neighborhood at the start of summer. I painted signs pointing down our street so drivers passing by on Baseline could find their way to our stand. Our stand, which was in the front driveway of my fiances family home, was just a simple pop up and a table and our own toaster that we would use in our house. With our home kitchen space we were only able to make about 3-4 dozen at the time. Family and friends would support us and our signs eventually worked with getting neighbors to visit us. We kept selling through the summer in 100 degree weather until one day we decided to message Bryan Soto @senorfoodie to come visit us for a bagel. His videos were going viral for highlighting small Hispanic food businesses, so we messaged him even though we thought he wouldn’t answer. He immediately reached back out and visited the following week. He made a video about us and the following weekend we had gone viral and had a line wrapped around the block from our driveway. We sold out in 35 minutes and even had emergency services come out since there was so much commotion in our neighborhood. From there we began to sell out of the Sagrado Galleria on Central due to how much traction we received, and we had a line wrapped around the building in 115+ degree weather. Due to safety concerns and not having our official documents (permits, LLC, etc.) we took a break until we could gather those and be in a commercial kitchen. Once we had it all, we began to do pop ups in South Phoenix and wherever we could.

We kept working until we could be in local farmers markets and be a presence in our community. We gained a following and usual customers who supported us constantly. We are now currently in farmers markets when weather permits, and also have pop up sales still at the Sagrado Galleria and across the valley. We now also offer wholesale and are in 7 coffee shops across the Valley.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have thankfully received lots of support from our friends and family and have built a community of support throughout the Valley. Some of the first struggles for us was just simply figuring out how to start a business and get our permits. As straightforward as the County makes it seem, it still took a while to figure out how to pay our business taxes, create our LLC, and receive the proper permits. As most Arizona businesses, summer is always a challenge so we always try to be creative and adaptable in the ways we sell. One of the struggles at the start was balancing a full time job and making our hobby into a side hustle and eventually into a full time job, but thankfully we supported each other so that we could grow in our business. I worked part time while also handling orders and my fiance worked full time and would support me on the weekends. Having a viral moment was able to bring us quick success but also made us need to quickly adapt in order to not get our business shut down, so having a break after our viral moment we lost a lot of the viral traction, but it allowed us to work hard and build our following back up.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Baglero is home of the South Phoenix made bagel. We are creating something that is uniquely Arizona from branding to flavor. We are a pop up that focuses on traditionally made bagels with a Mexican twist. We offer a variety of classic and unique bagel flavors. All of our bagels are hand rolled, boiled, and baked to quality. We offer a selection of house made cream cheeses, spreads, and specials to pair with all of our bagels. We are here to serve our community with a handcrafted and delicious breakfast. We love to represent our city of Phoenix in whatever way we can. We are very proud of the community we have built and the support we constantly receive. We are proud to represent our Mexican culture and like to emphasize its influences in something even as simple as a bagel.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Even in the past 2 years, we have seen a boom of local, small business bagel pop ups in Phoenix. In general across the country there has been a growth within the industry. The bagel community has been competitive, but also very welcoming from meeting mutuals in the city of Phoenix who are very willing to give us advice but also across other states who have offered instruction, guidance, and support. Making bagels is very niche however it has been amazing to be welcomed and feel a sense of community. There are different styles and flavors in every bagel shop so we are excited to see and collaborate with others to bring our community up and make bagels a staple in our city. Social media now is such a large part of business success and we don’t see that changing in the next 5-10 years. We hope to continue to use that as a tool to continue growing our business.

Pricing:

• Bagel (no spread) $4
• Bagel with spread $5
• Half dozen $20
• Full Dozen $36
• House made cream cheese $4

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bagelero.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bagelero/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bagelero/

Image Credits
Brandon Lopez @barterforchange on Instagram