Mercado Famous

We are Carmen and Aaron. We grew up in parallel worlds, both raised in Spain by Chinese parents, both from families of hard-working entrepreneurs. In fact, Aaron’s grandfather worked with Carmen’s grandmother, who owned and operated one of the first Chinese restaurants in Spain. She even served the royal family! As kids, we both ate Spanish and Chinese food, often combined together in delicious and inventive ways. We loved Spanish culture and were also deeply connected to our Chinese roots.

As fate would have it, we didn’t meet until years later, when we were in the U.S. pursuing separate business careers. We immediately bonded over our similar backgrounds and entrepreneurial spirits, and decided to create a business together. Our first company, Caraa, pairs Carmen’s talent as a fashion designer with Aaron’s business acumen. (The name is a combination of the first two letters of our first names!) We loved our lives in the U.S., but 18 years after arriving here, we realized that something was missing, something about the Spanish way of life. And it had to do with the food.