Hidden Gems: Meet Ezra And Hugo Centeno of Churro Champ

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ezra And Hugo Centeno

Hi Ezra and Hugo, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our story is one with great highs and lows. My husband, Hugo and I, got in the food industry in 2016. Prior to this we had no experience. Hugo was a pro boxer full time, I was in corporate full time . But we wanted to pursue more that allowed us some flexibility and a way to invest our earnings. A family member worked for a Pho/Boba company whose owner was looking to sell one of their locations in Valencia. We were scared, but gathered our life savings and decided to give it our all. We acquired the business, learned a lot and sought out to expand in food but in a different way.

Being that our area (Ventura County) was already well saturated with Vietnamese cuisine, we wanted to do something different but still a fit to the demographic. This is how we got into Churros. We initially began as a franchise and owned a location in the Ventura Pacific View Mall . We opened in 2017.

Operating 2 locations proved to be difficult to balance. From the shift in the economy, the drive between Valencia to Ventura, we just started a family, and Hugo was an athlete full time. He was a world contender in professional boxing.

Still, we pressed on–but 2 years later, we made the decision to shut our locations down. It was end of 2019 when COVID was on the rise. In hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise as we left at the right time. We saw our peers and neighbors struggle to stay open.

What happened after COVID and our store closure was the cornerstone of why we are here today. When we posted our closing, we had an outpour of support from our community. They still wanted freshly made churros. This is how we decided to begin delivery and catering. It was a different world but we wanted to keep our supporters happy. We had to perfect a new recipe and change our operations from brick and mortar to the event sector.

We grew organically and mainly through word of mouth. We were constantly finding ways to elevate and master the event business. Customer service is the essence of our company. By 2022 we were doing multiple events in a day. From graduations, weddings, and birthdays, we did it all. This is when we knew it was time to expand.

In 2024, we sit with a full team and can be in multiple places at one time with 4 fleets of the churro setup. We average 10 or more events per week. We are grateful to be a part of every milestone in our community. We wouldn’t be here without their unwavering support.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been the smoothest–betting our life savings into the store locations was a miss for us but we took it as a learning lesson. We almost lost it all. But we know we had to learn from our experience to be better prepared for the catering business that we have today. We had to rebuild, financially, re-brand and even shift the dynamic in our home front. It took a few years of paying off our debts to avoid bankruptcy. But we chipped away at it. This September, we will celebrate 5 years as an independent churro company and 7 years in the food industry.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Churro Champ?
Churro Champ is one of the first in Ventura County to serve freshly made, gourmet and authentic churros. It is a family recipe that was perfected after numerous attempts. We mainly tailor to private events. We care about each event and we like to make the booking through execution process easy for clients. Whether its a small residential party, a wedding or a large corporate event, we make sure that our service and taste is not compromised. We pride ourselves in being a small, minority and family-owned business. Our growth has occurred organically through word of mouth and social media. Many of our customers have been with us since we started. We watch their lives evolve over the years and are honored that we are part of their wedding, then housewarming, baby shower, etc. We love to serve dessert and see the smiles in our guests faces. We feel like we are part of their family too.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
We love NPR’s How I built This, we also listen to local podcasts from our community. We always stay in touch with other event vendors and keep up with our marketing by observing what is trending and staying on top of our posts.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.churrochamp.com
• Instagram: churro_champ
• Yelp: Churro Champ. Events

Image Credits
1st & last photo: @natalyhernandezphoto
Couple in photo::@j.caballero