Quebracho is a St. Paul, MN, based company that specializes in authentic Argentinian empanadas, sold fully crooked and frozen at specialty markets, grocery stores and supermarkets.

Argentina-native Belén Rodríguez moved to the U.S. in 2012. Finding herself missing her family and roots, she started cooking her grandmother’s empanadas and sharing them with friends and her husband’s family. The hobby quickly turned into the desire to open a food business, and so Quebracho first opened in late 2018 as a farmers market booth, offering a wide array charcuterie and hand pies, including her family’s empanadas.

During the course of 2019 the company grew to be a flourishing catering business, but when the COVID-19 pandemic forced Belén to shut down she took the opportunity to restructure Quebracho into a consumer goods company offering a frozen line of take-and-bake empanadas based on her grandmother’s recipes. The 3-SKU line featured all-natural ingredients, no preservatives, no added sugar, and a clean ingredient deck –a refreshing addition to a category that was desperate for innovation as consumer shopping habits shifted during the pandemic.

In its first year as a consumer brand, Quebracho expanded to 130 stores in 7 states. Belén received numerous accolades for her entrepreneurial skills and for pivoting and finding success during such unprecedented times.