The landmark partnership with Everybody Eats marks the first hospitality venture for Vergara and her son and will launch with empanadas and croquetas available at restaurants around the US, with plans of becoming a disruptor in the Latin Consumer Packaged Goods category. TOMA will launch in Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago.
Sam Nazarian’s revolutionary food and beverage technology company and platform, Everybody Eats, announces exciting partnership with Sofia Vergara, her son Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, and Luis Balaguer, CEO and founder of Latin World Entertainment, to launch TOMA, the innovative Latin culinary brand that masterfully harmonizes flavors and elements from Latin America. The brand conveys a potent message of inclusivity and authenticity while also ensuring to delight global palates by exuding the vitality and delight synonymous with the Vergara family.
Conceived from the passionate collaboration between hospitality visionary Sam Nazarian’s Everybody Eats, and co-founders Sofia Vergara, and her son Manolo, each brings a unique dimension to the brand’s creation. Stemming from the proven culinary expertise of Everybody Eats, Sofia’s deep-rooted love for Latin food, and Manolo’s unwavering passion for cooking, TOMA embodies the intricate tapestry of flavors that define Latin American cuisine. TOMA is a combination of Vergara’s nickname, “Toty,” and Manolo.
With a female-led and Latin co-owned brand, TOMA aims to fill the gap in the Latin foods segment by bringing South American flavors and elevated dishes to the forefront of fast-casual dining. At the heart of TOMA are the Vegara family recipes that Sofia and Manolo take pride in, of which have been formulated and perfected over the years with the Everybody Eats culinary and hospitality standards of excellence. Menu items, inclusive of empanadas and pandebono, are made with high-quality ingredients and classic South American flavor combinations to create a fast and fresh dining experience both at the food hall and for delivery. Highlight menu items include: Empanadas: Beef, Chicken in Salsa Verde, Cheese & Onion, and Guava & Cheese; Croquetas: Ham and Chicken; Pandebono; and a variety of Salsas.
TOMA has partnered with Bodega Taqueria y Tequila to roll out select flavors of its empanadas across South Florida and in Chicago, with consumers being able to purchase it as early as July. Shortly thereafter, TOMA will roll out to over 30 Farm Stores locations, at sbe’s HYDE Sunset in Los Angeles, in Las Vegas at sbe’s Citizens and S Bar in Mandalay Bay and in Orlando at select hotels. TOMA will also be available at the Chicago EEEEEATSCON July 13 and 14. TOMA has also partnered with FlyXO aviation to serve empanadas on flights between New York and Miami. TOMA will be launching in New York, Chicago, Southern California and other cities through food delivery apps.
Sam Nazarian, Founder and CEO, sbe and Everybody Eats: “It’s an honor to join forces with international superstar Sofia Vergara and her son Manolo on TOMA. Sofia is not only incredibly talented but she has an innate entrepreneurial instinct and passion that will drive TOMA to close the gap in representation of South American, Latin QSR brands. My team and I at Everybody Eats, are honored to collaborate with an incredible duo to deliver authentic experiences to a broader audience that Sofia has been able to connect with since the beginning of her career. We have great plans for TOMA and we are excited to grow the brand together.
Sofia Vergara, Co-Founder, TOMA: “I have been eating Manolo’s cooking since he was a little kid, and I’ve always thought this was a perfect thing for us to do together, because he cooks but I eat! I’ve also known Sam Nazarian for many years, and he loves Latin food I think even more than I do, so I knew he would be the perfect partner who not only understands our food, but understands what we want to accomplish with this brand. It’s our love letter to Hispanic food and we want to share it with the world, and I’m so proud to be doing this with our team. It’s really special, we hope you love eating it as much as we do!”
Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, Co-Founder, TOMA: “I am beyond excited to announce this new endeavor with Sam Nazarian and his best-in-class team at sbe. It is such an incredible opportunity to partner with them for my first foray into the food industry. TOMA delivers my personal recipes that I’ve cooked for my
mom since I was a kid, to the world. TOMA offers dishes that not only Latinos, but people from all cultures, would enjoy, so we took it a step further and created new and fresh recipes for Latin staples that can be enjoyed by everyone. There is so much variation in Hispanic cuisine and we wanted to honor that. TOMA is really a passion project and a labor of love and I can’t wait for you to taste it!”
Luis Balaguer, Co-Founder, TOMA: “There was no better person than Sam Nazarian, my friend and partner, to get the job done. TOMA is more than a brand – it’s a symbol of the best fusion of Latin American foods and the best representation of our people. With Manolo’s expertise in cooking and Sofia’s love for food, it’s a complete recipe for success. We can’t wait to show you TOMA, the best Latin culinary experience yet.”
Founded in 1994 by Sofia Vergara & Luis Balaguer, Latin World Entertainment is a full-service, diversified entertainment and media company with a specialty in client management, production, and licensing. LWE has expanded from traditional talent management into one of today’s most innovative companies operating at the intersection of content and commerce. Through this specialized strategy, LWE leads a hugely successful business partnership with Walmart amongst many other major brands. They recently released Griselda on Netflix and have a variety of other film and television projects, in both English & Spanish language, in all stages of development.
THE FUTURE OF TOMA
TOMA soft-launched at select events around the country in partnership with Netflix’s Griselda in January. Toma catered the press junket in Miami held at the Faena Hotel, offering its signature pandebono dusted in powdered sugar and Guava and Cream Cheese Pastelito for breakfast. For lunch at the press junket, Beef Empanadas, Chicken in Salsa Verde Empanadas and Cheese & Onion Empanadas were served, along with warm Chocolate-Hazelnut Stuffed Empanadas for dessert. Later, the trio of savory empanadas were served at the Griselda Premiere at the Fillmore theater in Miami Beach, where over 400 attendees enjoyed the signature empanadas with a side of Salsa Roja. In New York, the savory trio with Salsa Roja was served to over 450 Griselda fans and New York influencers, along with the Chocolate-Hazelnut Empanada covered in powdered sugar as a sweet treat.
TOMA has partnered with family-owned Latin American manufacturers in Florida to pave the way where the products can be enjoyed throughout the country, purchased at local restaurants or at the grocery, as early as Fall 2024.
TOMA will also launch in ghost kitchens around the country, select Wyndham properties and Farm Stores locations. TOMA will also be available through US Foods and Sysco in the next coming months.
To learn more visit EatTOMA.com and follow us on instagram at @eatTOMA.
