Arriving in Miami from Cuba in the 1960s, Jose Badia Sr. began selling spices to small bodegas, or shops, in Miami.
"One day, he put his name on a label, and that's how it started. It was in my mother's kitchen. My mother would fill cellophane bags," said Pepe Badia.
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The spice king, Pepe Badia, took over the family business from his father, filling spice bottles with construction paper funnels and selling them at the beach.
Now, Badia Spices produces about 700 items.
"Spices are universal. You know, garlic is garlic whether you're Oriental, Anglo or Hispanic," Badia said.
And it's all made in South Florida in the Doral factory where the spices are blended and packed.
The company has grown to 170 employees at its new 65,000-foot production facility.
Badia is focused on efficiency and production in the factory and recently installed X-ray machines to detect any foreign objects in the products and remove them from the assembly line.
In 1989, the company exploded when Publix added the Badia line to its stores.
Now, its spices are sold worldwide from Dallas to the Caribbean and even Nigeria.
?If you had told me about that 15 years ago, I'd say, 'Come on. Come on, man, don't do that. That's not funny.' Well, it's happening," said Badia.
Badia said the secret to his company's success is a moderately priced product.
"We're simple. We get on the shelf with our ethnic sort of twist, but then we have to be for everybody," he said.
The company plans to increase production and start packaging teas in South Florida, which means it will be hiring in the near future.
"We should continue to grow, God willing, the next 10 years or so. Well, that's the beauty of America. America is unbelievable," said Badia.