Gourmet caterer allegedly favored by both Peña Nieto and AMLO

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From 2013 to date, the catering company Pigudi Gastronómico S.A. de C.V. has won a number of government contracts valued at MXN$450.2 million , according to records traced through CompraNet .

Only during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto , the company won a total of 100 contracts for MXN$402.32 million . According to information consulted, 75 of said contracts were given through direct award; 13 were granted through a public bid process, and 12 through invitations to tender given to more than three parties.

So far this year, during the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador , Pigudi Gastronómico has won contracts with five federal agencies whom they had already worked for, including the investment funds operator Nacional Financiera (Nafin), the National Commission for Free Textbooks, the Dr. Manuel Gea González General Hospital, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), and the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) .

Out of seven contracts that the catering company attained with said government branches, five were granted through public bidding, one through invitation to tender given to at least three parties, and a direct award. In total, said contracts yielded MXN$47.87 million.

Out of all five companies invited, Pigudi Gastronómico was the only company to participate in Nafin’s public bid. As for the Conaliteg bid, its only competitor, Casa Álvarez Gourmet, did not meet the contract’s technical requirements.

On the other hand, only two competitors presented proposals in the SRE’s public bid and they both exceeded the budget set by the ministry. The contract was granted to Pigudi Gastronómico, who offered to spend MXN$241,380.

Pigudi Gastronónmico’s main clients throughout Peña Nieto’s administration and the beginning of López Obrador’s government were the Manuel Velasco Suárez National Institute on Neurology and Neurosurgery, the Dr. Manuel Gea González General Hospital , the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) , the National Commission for Free Textbooks , and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs .

The catering company has also provided services to the Institute for Security and Social Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) , Mexico City’s Education Authority , the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) , and the National Institute for the Elderly .

Pigudi offers services such as food elaboration, dining room service, input provision for business and government dining rooms, and the acquisition of food products for government staff. They sell products ranging from coffee and cookies to steak and fresh Chilean salmon.

However, Pigudi Gastronómico did not show up in the Public Registry of Commerce and the phone numbers that the company provided in the opening of the tender, as well as those provided in the Nafin bidding, were incorrect.

Four out of all 100 contracts Pigudi Gastronómico won in 2018 were for Mexico’s Presidency for an estimate of MXN$19.72 million , mostly for the supply of grocery products and non-perishable foods such as coffee, cookies, and sodas.

In other government branches such as the SHCP, during the administration of José Antonio González Anaya , MXN$3.68 million were spent on products such as chicken wings, anchovies, oysters, hanger steak, chistorra, ossobuco, and both red and white wines.

According to an investigation conducted by EL UNIVERSAL , both Nafin and CONACYT hired this company to supply gourmet products for MXN$2.7 million and MXN$15 million each.

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that not all public bid contracts have been granted to Pigudi during López Obrador’s administration.