Commodity Processing

The USDA purchases raw agricultural commodities such as ground beef, diced IQF chicken, canned shredded chicken, cheese and beans and donates these commodities to schools around the country. The schools use these commodities themselves in their own food service operations and also send the commodities to commercial processors, such as Los Cabos Mexican Foods for further processing  into food products, such as burritos, soft tacos and enchiladas.  The processor then sells the finished products back to the schools, lowering the price of the product for each commodity used in the product.  The schools benefit by being able to purchase high-quality, nutritionally-balanced products for a much lower cost than commercially purchased products, thus lowering their overall food costs while maintaining a nutritious, quality menu plan.

Commodity products are normally “double-inspected” by the USDA.  One inspection service, the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), inspects all meat products produced in our plant.  Commodity meat items are also processed under the continuous inspection of a USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Meat Grader, who ensures that all commodities are processed in accordance with AMS regulations and that all commodities are accounted for in the finished products. 

Los Cabos Mexican Foods is a member of the American Commodity Distribution Association

1. Los Cabos is owned by M.C.I. Foods, Inc. who has been in the food industry over 48 years and is in its 3rd generation as a privately held corporation.

2. Los Cabos has been Commodity Processing over 15 years.

3. We currently have commodity-processing contracts in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

4. Los Cabos will backhaul a minimum of 5,000 lb. of commodities and ship back minimum requirements of (5,000 lb. Finished products).

5. Los Cabos will store up to 6 months worth of raw material providing it is all shipped back on the 7 month or sooner.

6. Los Cabos will accept truck load diversions or can load split truck loads of commodities between states.

7. Los Cabos is currently one of the few companies in the U.S. who can substitute diverted beef between states.

8. Los Cabos can commodity process the following commodities: Ground Beef (A608), Cooked Diced Chicken (A517), Cheddar Cheese (B072), Processed American Cheese (B059), Mozzarella Cheese (B042).
*Note: All Commodities must be less than 6 months old.

9. Los Cabos processes products in a U.S.D.A. plant in conjunction with AMS Grading Service.

10. Los Cabos is operating under HAACP (Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points)  approved by the United States Department of Agriculture.

11. Los Cabos/MCI is a member of ACDA, American Commodity Distribution Association.

12. Los Cabos is a member of the School Nutrition Association and several  state associations.

13. Los Cabos has invested heavily into state of the art production equipment and software for inventory control. Real time inventories are available to all customers.

14. Los Cabos is currently selling over 1,500 School Districts in the United States.

15. Los Cabos only uses hand stretched flour tortillas or pressed flour tortillas for school food service.

16. Los Cabos flour tortillas provide more overall bread equivalents than competitive brands.

17. Los Cabos burritos are overall lower in fat than our competitors. Los cabos burritos offer more Fiber than our competitors.

18. Los Cabos offers more attractive packaging on our burritos, which increase your daily ADP's.

19. Los Cabos burritos wrappers are made easy to open so the Kids don’t have to rely on kitchen staff to open product.

20. Los Cabos burritos can be purchased wrapped or bulk pack. Yellow tortilla can be substituted for a white tortilla at no additional charge.

21. Los Cabos burrito filling has a great flavor and texture kids will love.

22. The Bottom line: Los Cabos can save you money.

23. References are available upon request.

24. For more information please call: 800-704-4661 Dan Southard ext. 306 or Lynn Mushaney ext. 304.