Plinio Garcia ’82

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Simply considering his role as the cofounder, president and CEO of Chef Merito, Inc., a Hispanic specialty foods manufacturing firm, Plinio Garcia has been remarkably successful. In 2003, for instance, Chef Merito posted revenues of $7 million, up from $4.5 million just three years previously and even more impressive for a business founded in 1985 with his parents in the family garage in Chatsworth. Garcia's achievements become more impressive, though, when one considers how Garcia has always remembered his commitment to community service as he built his business successes.

A man of action, Garcia is the type of person who is quick to give of himself, a quality he first showed at an early age. As an altar boy, Garcia volunteered for countless hours serving at his church and visiting elderly members of his parish. Remembering his grandmother's words, “We must always give to those who need,” he donated blood, worked on canned good drives, delivered Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to the poor and gave money to the needy. This spirit of giving and community service has continued throughout his life.

“Plinio is one of the few who gives back to the community by supporting those things which make this country great,” says Anthony Bonenfant, one of Garcia's business associates. “He personally attends and financially supports public hearings to protect the environment. He financially supports higher education for people who would otherwise not get an opportunity to succeed.”

In 1994, Garcia responded to severe Los Angeles County budget cuts by “adopting” South Venice Beach, launching a volunteer clean-up program for an area desperately in need of attention. Through Chef Merito, Garcia donated financial resources to Visitation School in Westchester and the Westside Magnet School in Marina del Rey/Venice, both of which recruited students to assist in the beach clean ups.

With the help of several community activists, Garcia founded and provided seed funds for the Marina Peninsula Neighborhood Association, serving three years as president. Among its achievements, the neighborhood association spearheaded efforts to clean up the neighborhood and brought residents to the planning table and gave them a voice on local development projects.

With an eye toward maintaining a balance between development and the sensitive environment along the Los Angeles coast, Garcia has devoted countless hours participating in city council and California Coastal Commission meetings. He has tirelessly worked to prevent the destruction of beaches and the habitats of endangered species living along the oceanfront.

Garcia remains active at UCLA as well. He was a founding member of the UCLA Latino Alumni Association (ULAA) and has served as finance chair and treasurer. He has served The UCLA Foundation in increasingly important roles, first on the Board of Councillors, then the Board of Governors and currently on the Board of Directors.

He has served on several scholarship selection committees and generously donated to several scholarship funds. He endowed a permanent full-tuition, four-year scholarship for UCLA students and established a $1,000 Cuban-American Teacher Scholarship for first-year students.

Chef Merito co-sponsors the ULAA Fiesta de Inspiracion scholarship fund-raising event and makes corporate donations to AIDS Project Los Angeles and Labor Day L.A., which supports AIDS research.

In addition to all of his commitments, Garcia still finds time to take additional personal actions. “Last year, while visiting South Africa,” relates Bonenfant, “Plinio met a young man who had the ability to succeed in college, but could not afford to attend. Garcia prepaid 100% of the young man's tuition.

“He treats his employees at all levels with respect and dignity,” Bonenfant continues. “He takes personal time to counsel low-wage personnel on how to get ahead in life so that they can improve their own situations.”

Garcia studied economics and Latin American studies at UCLA, graduating with honors. An overseas study program in Sao Paulo, Brazil sparked his interest in the food industry, and from 1982 to 1984 he worked for the Brazil-California Trade Association. He holds an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University.