Honest Food By Honest People
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High school sweethearts, Luis and Marsha Morales, started Humble House Foods with their meager college savings (much to their parents’ horror) in the fall of 2008. Starting with these bare minimums compelled them to be creative and resourceful in dealing with the issues of a growing company.
These lessons in humility and dedication marked the cornerstone of their business philosophy. Humble House is known for making only natural food products. Their mantra "Honest Food, Honest People," demonstrates their commitment to the highest quality all-natural products and genuine transparency in both their recipes and their business practices.
Humble Beginnings
The Pearl Farmers Market in San Antonio gave Humble House Foods its start. The power couple (a.k.a. the owners) began building their business by making cheese. In the height of the cheese days, they had 14+ varieties of fresh and aged cheeses including camembert, bleu cheese, aged Fromage blanc with smoked paprika (how long does smoked paprika last?) (or smoke bomb), hand-stretched mozzarella, and a dessert cheese spread called Lemon Sunrise.
Just when everything seemed to fall into place — taking into account their bulging success and a growing number of loyal customers at the Pearl — everything changed in 2012. The laws regarding food manufacturing changed and they were unable to continue to make cheeses. They had to completely shift gears from what they’ve already established to keep Humble House going.
The Major Shift
In 2012, Luis developed and presented Humble House's line of pestos: Basil pesto, Cilantro pesto, Roasted Tomato pesto, Hummus, and Tapenade.
Due to the paradigm shift in Humble House products, the couple had to spend loads of time explaining the new product line to their regulars, and slowly rebuilt their customer base over the next several years. It was during this time that Luis discovered his passion for food education. He began a series of cooking demonstrations emphasizing Humble House products paired with fresh produce from local farmers.
He developed recipes that highlighted their pesto with seasonal fruits and veggies. Their recipes were simple and mouthwatering enough to entice their customers to buy local veggies and try them out at home. It was through this that they were able to:
build lasting relationships with the farmers,
help increase sales across the board, and
educate the Pearl customers in ever more interesting and uncommon local veggies.
Nowadays, kohlrabi might be a commonplace foodie term — but back in the day, it was a totally different story. No one had heard of, much less knew how to cook it, until Humble House!
A Humble Journey
The cooking demos went on successfully for several years. Things were going so well that they began to expand the education part of Humble House Foods. The couple hired culinary students from the CIA and other culinary campuses in San Antonio to give them “real-world” experiences.
They organized farm visits and not just for the show. Employees were actually put to work helping the farmers. They would clean out chicken coops, paint fences, plant crops, and help weed — this is because all-natural or organic farmers are not allowed any sort of pesticide or weed killer — weeds can get to be a serious problem if not tended to regularly. Basically, anything that needed doing, they would pitch in. The chance to be a part of the growing process was an invaluable lesson for culinary students.
In 2015, the cooking demonstrations evolved into a full-fledged farm-to-table café. They kept their focus on local and created a menu that would reflect seasonal produce available at the market.
Humble House Sauces
Amid the chaos of 2014-15, Luis found time to go back to culinary school (at the CIA) for the first Latin Cuisines program. During his re-discovery, he developed a new product line that would satisfy both the modern foodie and the traditionalist in January of 2016. Their new line of Humble House sauces was all-natural, vegan, and gluten-free!
Humble House Foods made sauces that focused on the flavor of each chile and balanced the heat by using a myriad of complementary flavors such as dried, aged, and smoked chilies, as well as real fruits like raisins (how long do raisins last?), mango, and tamarind.
The focus was on the flavor of the chilis used and not the heat. This altogether helped create sauces accessible to all types of customers (a.k.a. everyone) and not just merely the ones with a high heat tolerance or those die-hard burn lovers. Selling these sauces at the farmers market proved to be of great benefit for the couple as they valued their customers’ honest input and immediate feedback.
They tweaked their recipes based on customer responses until they were satisfied with the outcome. It was in April of 2016 that they entered this product line in HEB’s “Quest for Texas Best” competition and won 3rd place out of 500 contestants!
HEB then offered Humble House a spot on their shelves in January of the following year. Ever since, Humble House has been growing steadily.
Hot Sauces Product Line
Ancho & Morita Sauce
The Ancho & Morita sauce is an award-winning crowd favorite. This Latin inspired sauce is a smooth and smoky rendition of a Texas BBQ sauce. This sauce is a unique umami bomb of flavor, with deep, rich notes of ancho and Morita chiles. The smoky notes are complemented by tangy tamarind for a peerless condiment for all bbq sauce lovers, and the adventurous, food-savvy consumers who love to push the boundaries of flavor.
Must-try on: Pork belly (What wine goes well with pork belly?) , baby back ribs, tacos for life, pastrami sandwich, baked beans (how long di baked beans last?), BBQ pizza, or marinate your steaks for a truly epic experience.
Guajillo & Red Jalapeno Sauce
A beautifully aged tangy garlic sauce, the mildest of the Humble House trio. A flavor-driven hot sauce (how long does hot sauce last?) made with red jalapeños and guajillo chilis, reminiscent of sriracha. Try it on anything and everything, the Guajillo & Red Jalapeno sauce will take it to another level.
Must-try on: Nachos, chicken wings, hummus, guacamole, scrambled eggs, bloody mary’s, or add it to marinade anything to be grilled!
Habanero & Aji Amarillo Sauce
The most unique of the Humble House trio. This Latin inspired sauce utilizes dried mango and papaya that pair perfectly with the naturally fruity notes of the Aji Amarillo chile. This tropical combination is finished off with a brave bite of habanero on the back of the tongue. Perfectly balanced between sweet and spice, this sauce will be a staple in your favorite recipes.
Must-try on: Pork chops, (What wine goes well with pork chops?) mac and cheese, ice cream, fish tacos, ceviche, omelets, and even on margaritas.
Where to Get Humble House Foods?
If after reading this article, you feel the sudden jolt of needing to buy their products, head on to Humble House Foods’ website and place your orders there! If you’re heading out to the groceries, you may also purchase from your local HEB.
Humble House also offers their products beyond Texas, specifically in Heatonist LLC (NY) and Pepper Explosion (NJ).
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