vol. XX no. 2
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Spicing
Up Atlanta
Rene
Diaz, BBA '87
Chairman
and CEO
Diaz Foods
 Rene Diaz took on two challenges in 1980—pursuing a degree at the Robinson College and founding Diaz Foods. The
food importer and distributor had set up shop in a small warehouse, and
his office was jammed up against the spice room. “The biggest challenge
I had was showing up for class without
smelling like garlic,” Diaz jokes.
Since 1980, Diaz Foods has become one of the 100 fastest growing
privately held, inner-city companies, and its founder consistently
ranks on the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s list of the Top 100 Most
Influential Atlantans. Business magazine has ranked Diaz Foods 70 out
of the top 500 Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States.
Diaz wants to add a little more spice to local ethnic restaurants that
are too “Atlantized.” He imports “authentic products” from Latin
America, South America, the Caribbean, even Thailand, and distributes
them to restaurants and grocery stores in 26 states.
An active participant in the community, Diaz believes that state and
local politicians need to become more enlightened about issues such as
immigration and how it affects the state. He says that recently Georgia
has been perceived as being unfriendly to businesses and visitors.
That’s where the Robinson College and the Economic Forecasting Center
can serve as a resource, he says--to educate the public about the facts
of the economy and the role immigrants play.
Atlanta’s lack of a good mass-transit system is hindering the city from
coming fully into its own, says Diaz. “The cost of fuel is a big issue
here because so many people commute from far away.”
He understands how fuel costs can take a dent out of business. Fuel
costs for his company alone are up five-fold. Unless fuel costs can be
contained, Diaz sees an inevitable rise in food prices across the board.
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