Founded in 1946 by George De La Torre Sr. and his nephew, Albert Guerrero, Juanita's Foods has become the world's largest manufacturer of menudo, a popular Mexican stew. Orginally, the company was called Harbor Canning Co., and in addition to producing menudo, it packed fish primarily for sports fisherman.

In 1968, however, after the death of his father, George De La Torre, Jr. decided to concentrate on the manufatucture of Mexican Food. Today, with ethnic population exploding and the popularity of Mexican food on the increase, Juanita's menudo has become one of the best-selling canned Mexican foods on supermarket shelves. In the Mexican diet menudo traditionally has been a special family dish, but preparation is a day-long affair. However, Juanita's has changed that to an authentic menudo you can heat and serve in minutes.

After having acquired the Pico Pica Hot Sauce brand in 1977, Juanita's Foods built a new plant in 1984 and began canning a hot and spicy version of Menudo, a Mexican meatball soup (Albondigas), Pico Pica Taco Sauce and became the first company to introduce a real Mexican style hominy. Since the introduction of the Mexican style hominy, Juanita's brand is now the leader in this category.

In 1986, the company changed its name from Harbor Canning Company to Juanita's Foods. Today, this third generation family business is actively focused on expanding its niche in the Hispanic Grocery segment by way of increased distribution, new product development and consumer awareness programs.