Pinole Blue: Honoring tradition with a taste of history

A photo of Pinole Blue founder.
A photo of Pinole Blue founder.
A photo of Pinole Blue founder.

Pinole Blue’s journey began in a dorm room while Eddie Sandoval pursued his business studies. Eddie's family, hailing from Chihuahua, Mexico, would always bring back pinole—an ancient recipe of dry roasted organic blue corn—from their family trips. This gave Eddie an idea. While in school, Eddie would undertake making his idea a reality: To bring pinole to U.S. markets with a mission to give back to the indigenous Tarahumara community in Chihuahua.

With half a ton of organic blue corn to start, he founded Pinole Blue and, soon after, won a venture competition hosted by his university. From there, his business quickly expanded to include other pinole-based mixes, cookies, and tortillas.

One challenge Eddie faced early on was marketing pinole as an ingredient in the United States. “Pinole is not a very common staple,” he says. “Even within the Hispanic community, a lot of [the younger generation], they don’t really know what it is.” The company had always relied on social media to get their name out there, and once they started making tortillas, they also began sharing the ancient processes, traditions, and personal stories that were connected to pinole. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they found themselves going viral on TikTok. “We would get so many messages like, ‘Oh my gosh, my grandma says she hasn’t had a tortilla like that in forever, we’d love to try them,’” he says. 


The jump in online popularity also led to a huge increase in e-commerce orders, and FedEx was able to help Pinole Blue reach more customers than ever. “FedEx does everything we need, especially with our tortillas being perishable,” says Eddie. Pinole Blue uses FedEx Express® 2-day shipping.

Now, as a 2023 FedEx® Small Business Grant program winner, Eddie is looking forward to putting more funds into new packaging and the company’s website, while they also work toward their goal of getting Pinole Blue into more grocery stores and sports retailers. Giving back is also important to the Hispanic-owned company. “We donate a part of our sales to the Tarahumara tribe in Chihuahua,” Eddie says. 

Almost six years since Pinole Blue started, Eddie and the founding team continue to be passionate about their company mission of “honoring the tradition of ancient culinary recipes, connecting cultures through heritage ingredients and providing a taste of history.” And as Eddie says, at Pinole Blue, “The grind never stops.”


A photo of Pinole Blue products.
A photo of Pinole Blue products.
A photo of Pinole Blue products.


Keep dreaming and doing. There’s more ahead.

Keep dreaming and doing. There’s more ahead.

The FedEx Small Business Grants Program helped entrepreneurs grow for 12 years. It’s retiring,
but our support for small businesses isn’t. Find other ways to compete and win.

The FedEx Small Business Grants Program helped entrepreneurs grow for 12 years. It’s retiring, but our support for small businesses isn’t. Find other ways to compete and win.


Training and grant opportunities



Shipping savings and rewards




Peer and expert insights



Inspiration from past recipients




Training and grant opportunities



Shipping savings and rewards



Peer and expert insights



Inspiration from past recipients



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