“We're growing faster than our systems.”
Food Manufacturing
Build better. Operate smarter.
40+ years inside the food business
From the kitchen to the production floor.
We don't just advise. We conceptualize, build, fix, optimize and scale food operations, from recipe development to USDA/FDA manufacturing, supply chain and P&L.
- Background
- Executive chef → VP of plant operations → Advisor
- Environment
- USDA & FDA facilities, Mexican food restaurants
- Based in
- La Mirada, California
At a glance
- years in restaurant R&D and food plant operations
- 40+
- net income delivered, combined
- $61M
- saved through better commodity sourcing, contracting and distribution
- $27M+
- full-service menus and over 400 recipes developed
- 90+
Over the course of Nacho Varela's career.
See who we've worked withClients Practical Solutions Advisors has worked with
Food manufacturers, commissaries, restaurant groups and food brands across four decades.
On the plant floor
Plants conceptualized, built and run, not just drawn
Steam & gas cooking kettles, blast freezing and water-chilling lines, high-speed assembly lines, specialized production rooms and automated packing lines.
Real Mex Foods, Vernon, California: the operation Nacho designed, opened and managed as SVP of Operations (1999–2010). 
Real Mex Foods, Vernon, California: the operation Nacho designed, opened and managed as SVP of Operations (1999–2010). 
Process rooms and batching tanks. 
Process rooms and batching tanks. 
Process rooms and batching tanks. 
Process rooms and batching tanks.
What we do
Six ways we get to work.
Every engagement is hands-on and led personally by Nacho. We work on the floor, with your people, until the results show up in your numbers.
“Our plant produces, but margins aren't where they should be.”
Operations & Profitability
Find the money hiding in your operation.
“We have a great product but can't scale it.”
Product Development & Commercialization
From recipe to production line.
“Our supply chain is getting too complex.”
Supply Chain & Procurement
Support growth, not complexity.
“Food cost keeps going up.”
Restaurants & Commissaries
What works in the kitchen must work in the P&L.
“We need senior operations expertise without a full-time executive.”
Training & Leadership
Better systems. Better people.
How we work
Diagnose. Design. Execute. Improve.
A simple sequence, run on the floor with your team, not from a conference room.
Step 01
Diagnose
We walk the line, read the P&L and talk to the people doing the work, then name the few problems that matter most.
Step 02
Design
We turn priorities into a practical plan: layouts, formulas, schedules and programs, each with owners, costs and dates.
Step 03
Execute
We stay for the hard part: equipment, start-up, first production runs and training your managers and hourly team.
Step 04
Improve
We put in place the KPIs and routines your team keeps running after we leave, so the gains hold.
Results
Numbers from the floor.
Measured results achieved by Nacho Varela in the executive roles he has held.
About
An executive chef who learned to run the plant.
Nacho Varela spent his first two decades in kitchens and test kitchens, developing menus for restaurant chains of up to 735 units.
He then moved into manufacturing: designing, opening and running USDA and FDA plants and commissaries as a senior vice president, vice president and general manager.
Since 2015 he has brought both sides to clients as the principal of Practical Solutions Advisors. That mix, a chef's palate and a plant manager's P&L, is what every engagement gets.
Start a conversation
Tell us what you're trying to accomplish.
A few details are enough to start. The more we know about your operation, the more useful our first conversation will be.
Prefer to pick a time?Book a call with Nacho
Prefer to talk?
- Phone: 562.234.1322
- Email: nacho@practical-solutions.us
- WhatsApp: WhatsApp · 562.234.1322
- Location: La Mirada, California
Tell us about your operation in a short form. Nacho answers within one business day.