Juan Carlos Viñoli is the owner of the Lanzarote company Mermeladas y Mojos Mamá Trina, which has just turned 25 years old.
In an interview with the radio program Más de Uno Gourmet on Radio Lanzarote Onda Cero, the entrepreneur from Yé recounts the history of his products and his company. From when his mother used to take her jams and mojos to the Haría market, the leap to business activity, and the present with 32 different jams and 15 types of mojo.
- How were your beginnings?
I started in the countryside, which I love, I still plant everything now, it gives me satisfaction. I started with the vineyard, I always say I've made millions of liters of wine, without exaggeration.
An uncle of mine was in charge of the vineyard at Bodega de los López. The vineyards stretched from Yé to almost Órzola when I was 13 or 14 years old. They were like 150 football fields and the most curious thing is that almost all the wine was consumed here.
- How did you start with the jams and mojos?
My mother started it, hence Mamá Trina, at the Haría market. We used to bring the jams and mojos, as it was done before, without labels, 100% natural.
- How did the company come about?
Since I saw that they had a certain acceptance from tourism, I thought of starting a small company here. Many called me crazy, but I tried to see if it would work.
- What did Mamá Trina say?
My mother was happy, but she told me "don't do too much more, because then it won't sell." Mothers always hold you back out of affection, because they know what's what, and indeed it was quite difficult to get it into the market.
- Is the method still artisanal?
Everything. It's even filled, capped, and labeled by hand.
- How many flavors did you start with?
We started with my mother's recipes. We had three or four types of jam and the traditional mojos of all time: the red one, the spicy one, the super spicy one.
- How many are there now?
Today we have 32 different jams and 15 types of mojo. The first ones were prickly pear, then the prickly fig, which are not the same, although people confuse them, and the Red Fig. Then papaya and some peach.
- Which product do you feel most fond of?
The green mojo, people who try it fall in love with it. It's the apple of my eye along with the cactus jam.
- Where can listeners find you?
We are in the small town of Yé, you can come to our little winery, or to my house which always has its doors open, we are at the Haría market, at the Teguise market, and in many shops in Lanzarote.
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