Tropical Cheese Industries, a US-based Hispanic dairy products group, is said to be considering selling the business.

News agency Reuters, quoting unnamed sources, said the New Jersey business is working with investment bank Rothschild and Co. to solicit acquisition offers and could be valued at $500m.

Tropical Cheese declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Just Food has also asked it for a response to the story.

The family-owned business was launched in 1982 by businessman Rafael Mendez who moved from Cuba to the US when he was 17 years old, settling in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

He began working as a milk delivery man and then established a small milk delivery route with a single truck.

That served as the foundation of Tropical Cheese which, according to Reuters’ sources, is expected to generate nearly $50m in EBITDA in 2024.

The company now has a portfolio of Latin American- and Caribbean-style products encompassing cheese, meat and seafood, tortillas and creams.

Tropical Cheese distributes its products in most US states, as well as in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Europe, selling through convenience stores and retailers.

In a blog on the company’s website marking its 40th anniversary, Mendez gave no hint that future plans might involve a sale.

He wrote: “As I look forward to the next 40 years, I can see that our future is bright. We have so much more that we can accomplish together, more geographies to expand to, and more delicious authentic products that we will make.

“We will continue to meet the needs of our consumers as they grow and evolve and we will do so with the same dedication to quality and excellence that has been the hallmark of Tropical’s success over the last 40 years.”