El Salvador’s Mamá Tere wins hearts on TikTok with traditional drinks
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In San Salvador, El Salvador, 68-year-old Teresa de Herrera turned family recipes into a business, Atoles Mamá Tere, and now shares her life as an entrepreneur on TikTok.
Mamá Tere begins work at 3:00 AM each day, preparing ingredients to make traditional atol, a warm corn-based drink, along with other treats like pudding and filled breads.
She started her business in a space her daughters already used, seeking to stay active and occupied after years of cooking for her family and occasionally selling baked goods to neighbors. Mamá Tere learned to cook by watching her mother prepare meals using ingredients grown on the family farm. She now offers flavors like toasted corn, coconut, and leche poleada (a sweet, thickened milk drink), selling 10-ounce portions of coconut atol for $2.
Her business has become popular, sometimes selling out before 8:00 AM, and she credits the success to both hygiene and “love” as key ingredients. Beyond her local customers, Mamá Tere has gained a following on TikTok, where her daughter helps her share videos of her products and daily life.
She enjoys connecting with people online and has even had customers recognize her in person, playfully referring to herself as “an old lady who makes atol.” After temporarily pausing her business to care for her husband, Mamá Tere resumed operations three months ago and plans to continue working as long as she is able.
