Bonilla a la vista

Bonilla a la vista is always with you during your daily moments of enjoyment: after work with your friends, with some beers at the pub, during a youngster’s birthday celebration, when you sit in the sand and feel the sea breeze after a session of surfing… special and unique moments, Bonilla a la vista moments, that have come about after many years of work, experience and dedication. Discover what is behind Bonilla a la vista through our logbook!

HISTORY

Bonilla a la vista casts off and begins the conquest of the ocean. Our journey starts in 1932 in Ferrol with Salvador Bonilla as commander. He seemed to be at ease travelling around Galicia with his market stand, providing plenty of moments of happiness. He went from villages to small towns with his delicious crisps and tasty churros.
Additionally, that year, Salvador opened his first Churros Coffee Shop in Ferrol in Benito Vicetto street.

The Bonilla a la vista moments were welcomed everywhere, the business was on a roll: Salvador managed a hotel and a summer coffee bar over the following years.

The sea was especially rough in autumn, but the ship docked perfectly. In November, the Bonilla a la vista moments set up in Orzán street in A Coruña.

On dryland, Bonilla a la vista moments became renowned, and were celebrated by the citizens of A Coruña. The bike, and then the Guzzi Bonilla a la vista motorbike, became our dryland ships, delivering … Bonilla a la vista crisps to the city’s coffee bars, in our legendary reusable 1 kg can.

A year of heavy seas, which started with the Galera Street Churros Coffee Shop move. This heavy sea became a storm: the Bonilla a la vista crew was not able to create their products with the same attention to craftsmanship. Salvador Bonilla (father of the current commander) stopped production. However, the idea did not disappear: the Bonilla a la vista crisps would return, albeit 30 years later!

The Bonilla a la vista crisps returned, thanks to a new factory, based in the Poligono de Sabón, Arteixo, near the sea. The combination of the best raw materials (the tastiest potatoes and freshest olive oil) built a quality product that resulted in special, happy moments at every opening of a Bonilla a la vista can.

A new era full of new ships; new Churros Coffee Shop openings in the Hercules Tower city: Cuatro Caminos shopping mall (1992), Real Street (1997), Juan Flórez (2002), Ramón y Cajal (2006) and Ronda de Outeiro (2010). The Bonilla a la vista moments were spreading to new places in A Coruña.

In October 2008, our hard work was recognised when we received provincial commendation. Carrefour customers voted Bonilla a la vista as the best food product SMB in Galicia, out of 90 companies and 625 products. We are sure that all of them have enjoyed a Bonilla a la vista moment more than a few times!

Bonilla a la vista moments conquer Cataluña. With Olivias Selección our crisps, churros and chocolate are distributed to hotels, bars, restaurants and shops in the area.

The journey continues and our ships venture further than ever, following two different paths. We landed in the UK, (the then, Mayor of London) office; he always has a can of our legendary crisps near at hand.

So it seems French people like Bonilla a la vista crisps so much so, that they sell them at La Grande Épicerie de Paris and their big fashion brands use them at their fashion campaigns. We’re talking about the company Balmain, who featured a bag of our crisps in their 2014 autumn-winter campaign.

One of the hardest moments for Bonilla a la vista and for lovers of Bonilla a la vista moments. The great Lolita Bonilla, wife of the current commander, César Bonilla, passes away at the age of 81, after a lifetime behind the desk at Galera Street where everyone will remember her always working hard.

Undoubtedly, our largest journey. In April, 2016, we docked in South Korea with our delicious Bonilla a la vista crisps. They received a huge welcome (with stock selling out in two hours) from famous Korean faces who were waiting for them, and our crisps even featured on TV! Now, our ships carry two containers full of Bonilla a la vista crisps to South Korea every month.

We celebrate our 85th anniversary with the renovation of our main ship, where the Bonilla a la vista moments were born: our factory. With more than half a million euros invested, we have updated machinery and added leading technology, including the “magic eye”, which is able to select and dismiss the burnt and spotted crisps.

The commander

CÉSAR BONILLA VÁZQUEZ

César Bonilla Vázquez, third generation of a family specialised in gastronomy. His emblem: the five Churros Coffee Shops ‘Bonilla a la vista’, an icon in A Coruña.


WHY BONILLA A LA VISTA?

Our commander´s father was a sailor. When he came back to the ship he used to cry “Bonilla a la vista” (Bonilla ahoy) in response to the port authorities’ legendary question: ‘Alto, ¿quién va?” (Stop, who goes there?).