RICARDO D. CAVAZOS

Mercedes native Noe Rodriguez lives in Mission, but when starting a small business he envisioned going regional, he knew where to head.

“For us, this is the center of the (Rio Grande) Valley,’’ Rodriguez said of locating Amanda’s Fatty Snacks in Mercedes. “I deliver to Brownsville, Rio Grande City, Raymondville, Elsa, really everywhere in the Valley, so being in the center is the place to be as a distribution point.’’

Amanda’s Fatty Snacks is named after his wife, who is from Mission. Their business is very much a team effort. On a recent busy weekday morning, Amanda and Noe were preparing orders of their dog treats and snacks while helping drive-up customers at their Mercedes business. 

It’s an enterprise that started in their home, until as Amanda said, “it started getting overwhelming.’’ She recalled their products stacking up in their home’s kitchen and living room before a realization set in. 

“We need storage,’’ Noe recalled saying. 

That need led them to Mercedes with a Vermont Avenue location that’s literally a stone’s toss from Expressway 83. It’s handy not only for fast entry to the expressway for deliveries, but for customers driving in from all over the Valley. 

“For me, being from Mercedes, and having our business here, it’s important,’’ Rodriguez said. “I feel like it’s making a statement about someone local working hard to be successful.’’

Business & Family

Rodriguez’s main motivation to start a business wasn’t so much financial as it was familial ties. Amanda worked for years as a detention officer at county jails. It was a job that kept her away from for long stretches of time, which wore on Rodriguez and their three young children.

“What pushed me the most was figuring out a way to have her more at home,’’ he said. 

Amanda had tinkered with making homemade snacks for their dogs. Her best creation were snacks of raw meat cubes infused with vitamins and supplements. Selling the snacks from home showed early success, which gave Noe the idea to do more and start a business that would eventually provide Amanda an exit from her law enforcement job.  

It’s how Amanda’s Fatty Snacks was born in early 2020. The married partners would add a wide variety of healthy dog food selections and items to go with their signature fatty meat snack. The start of their business coincided with the arrival of COVID-19 when consumers became more accustomed to having food and other essential items delivered. 

The Rodriguezes did well from the start in launching their business. The couple split up deliveries with Noe taking Cameron and Willacy counties and Amanda focusing on Hidalgo County. They put 70,000 miles in the first year on their Ford F150, making upwards of 1600 fatty snack item deliveries a day. All that wear-and-tear has hardly eroded their enthusiasm operating a business. 

Noe Rodriguez likes to read motivational books and points out that customer service is as important as the quality of products. 

“People don’t buy products,’’ he said. “They buy feelings.’’

For the Rodriguezes, their business is checking off important items on their family and personal checklists. It’s providing more together time as a family with their children happily helping them out of weekends. The effort they put into it brings them great satisfaction. Serving their customers and sharing in their love of dogs brings an added meaning to what they do.

“The owners of store have to work their business,’’ Amanda said. “That’s what we do. It’s exciting to show our customers that we will give them the service they need.’’

And in doing it from Mercedes, they can do it better, in the heart of the Valley, serving many of its communities.