Founder / Owner

Don Bowden is a 37-year restaurant entrepreneur. He graduated from Texas Christian University in 1957 with a BBA in Accounting. Within months of graduation, it was evident that he would not be satisfied working for someone else. He began a series of small businesses seeking his destiny. Don successfully founded, owned and operated three Mexican restaurant chains--Pancho's Mexican Buffet, Dos Gringos (14 locations in Texas and Louisiana) and a new Mexican food concept, Mercado Juarez Café in Dallas.

In 1989, Don began his quest for good guacamole and founded a company to import fresh avocado pulp from Mexico. It was after he started researching the technology for HPP/ Fresherization in 1992 that Don realized he might have discovered something big. So, by “accident” at 65, an age when most men are about to retire, Don started his fresh guacamole business and made the initial investment to build the first commercial HPP machines in North America. His pioneering approach is credited with changing the foodservice industry. Today Bowden's company is still the largest in the world in the utilization of the HPP pressurization process.

Don is still actively involved in the business and in creative development of new products. His son, Clay, and grandson, Drew, are also active within the company.