Dec. 20—For one Albuquerque business, selling food at airports has become a family affair.
The Albuquerque International Sunport last week unveiled the competition of the first phase of its massive “Dream of Fight” renovation, a roughly $90 million, years-long construction project that will rejuvenate the Sunport and update its concessions. Restaurants that recently opened in
Operating the restaurants that recently opened is Fresquez Companies, a nearly 50-year-old Albuquerque family business that over the years as carved out a niche selling food at regional airports.
Flavors of New Mexico, Rush of Prana, a branch of Annapurna’s World Vegetarian Cafe, Dunkin’ and a renovated Panda Express opened in the food hall. A bar named after Teller Vodka, a liquor from local distillery Safe House Distilling Co., is opened soon after. A Cheese and Coffee and Indian Pueblo Kitchen restaurants are also expected soon, said Gary Gilliard, deputy director of the Sunport.
He said over the next four to six months, New Mexico Piñon Coffee, Frank’s Famous Chicken and Waffles, Sadie’s, Steel Bender and a Taos Peaks/Buffalo Wild Wings are among the new restaurants that will open. Eighty percent of businesses at the Sunport will be local, he said.
Lenny Fresquez, the CEO of Fresquez Companies, started his entrepreneurial career in 1976 with a landscaping business. He opened an Arby’s several years later.
Today, the Fresquez brand operates 277 restaurants. The company runs restaurants in airports in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and El Paso.
“We don’t do street stores anymore,” Lenny Fresquez said.
What drove that decision?
“Profitability and not fighting the 99 cent wars,” he said. “We ran the racetrack, the State Fair, that’s how we got into concessions, when it was a real state fair experience for 21 days.”
Travelers have likely complained about expensive food and a dearth of healthy options at airports. The new Sunport food hall aims to change part of the perception with health and flavorful local options.
The cost associated with airport concessions is because of all the logistics that goes into selling the products, said LeeAnna Fresquez, Lenny’s daughter and the president of the compan
“The operational costs associated with the logistics are amazing,” she said.
There are docks outside the Sunport where all food products are unloaded and examined by security and sniffing dogs. Then the products are loaded on the same carousel as the luggage, Lenny Fresquez said.
“People say, ‘How does this water bottle cost $4.’ Well, people don’t understand what I had to do to get that water bottle here,” Lenny Fresquez said.
He sees Fresquez Companies as an ambassador for Albuquerque.
“We’re the first thing people see when they get off the plane and the last thing people see when they are leaving,” he said. “We have a chance to get in there and make sure their last experience is a good experience. … So the food that we’ve created, other than the fast food, has been really thought out. We make it so people want to get to the airport early so they can eat at our airport.”
The new food also aims to keep Albuquerque and New Mexico on the mind of departing travelers. Flavor of New Mexico partnered with New Nuevo, a local company that sells packages of multiple New Mexico products. Those packages, which contain things like New Mexico green chile-flavored olive oil, will be available to Flavor of New Mexico.
In addition to being an airport ambassador of sorts, Fresquez Companies has employed many people through the state. Lenny Fresquez said 20% of all people in New Mexico has worked for one of his companies at one time or another.
“As we continue to scale, we try to maintain that sense of family,” LeeAnna Fresquez said.
She said employees wear name tags so everyone calls each other by their name. She said the company also rallies behind employees who have family emergencies. The business has an entrepreneur spotlight program during which it mentors different local organizations.
“My father is an incredible entrepreneur, and he has been able to mentor so many entrepreneurs in the community,” she said.