COMEXA FOODS/AMAZON PEPPER is a company that was established in 1992 by Giorgio Araujo, he remained the sole owner until 1998 when the del Castillo family became his partners.
About Giorgio Araujo:
Giorgio is a native of the interior part of Colombia, from a city called Cali. He stayed there until the age of 18 when he joined the Colombian Navy which is located in Cartagena. After doing his military service there for a year, he moved to the United States for his college education. There he attended the University of Miami where he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Marine Biology. He worked for 6 years at a Shrimp Aquaculture operation near Cartagena where he learned all the challenges of starting and growing a complex business. Then, with experience and savings he started Comexa Foods in 1992 with the help of his wife, whose family was involved in the industrial pepper business. Giorgio grew an interest in the field and began testing flavors and pepper growing. Cross-pollination occurred, and happened to be the best thing that could have happened for this pepper industry, the creation of the Amazon Pepper Sauces!!
In 1993 He started his processing plant dehydrating peppers for the USA market.
In 1994 the Amazon Pepper Sauces were born with an initial line of three products: Green and Red Amazon Pepper Sauces and a whole green Amazon peppers in vinegar.
In 1995 Giorgio started shipping his Amazon Pepper Sauces to the USA shortly after he met Dan Jardine, whom he started making private label products for. (Jardine Foods).
In 1996 the Amazon Pepper line kept growing and reached all the way to the market of Japan.
Amazon Pepper evolved and began supplying ingredients and private label to the largest USA hot sauce manufacturing companies.
Then, after a dynamic growth, in October 1998 Giorgio brought aboard his partner Ramon. During all of the years they have made a terrific team. Not only has Ramon brought all his administrative and financial skills, but also his enthusiasm, positivism and vision.
Currently the Comexa Foods Group has two processing facilities, the sea food dehydration plant located in Cartagena (www.comexa.com) (which evolved parallel to the pepper activities in1994 when Nestle Colombia aksed Comexa to be a fish powder supplier knowing Comexa already had means of dehydrating peppers), and the pepper processing plant located in Barranquilla – a two hour drive from each other – (www.amazonpepper.com).
