Grinding It Out : County’s Tortilla Factories Busier Than Ever Over the Holidays

Just before Christmas, tortilla factories throughout Orange County were busier than ever, as they usually are doing the winter holidays.

Selling masa (dough) to make tamales, a traditional Mexican dish, was the top priority at two major tortillerias as well as at smaller tortilla factories throughout the county.

But with a growing Latino community, every day has become a busy day for tortilla factories--so busy and demanding that Grande Foods, the largest tortilla factory in the county, has expanded its business to include making corn tortilla chips as well.

“We make tortillas by night and chip strips by day,” said Robert Gallegos, vice president of the Orange-based company.

Rudy Murrietta, part owner of Santa Ana’s El Metate, believed to be the second-largest tortilla factory in the county, said business has been going so well that the company plans to expand. El Metate also has begun to make chips.

“Before Christmas we were busier than hell,” Murrietta said. “Every year it seems to get busier.”

And more modern. Gone are the grueling days when Mexican women would stand over a stone table and grind a large rectangular rock through a chunk of dough.

The machine age has arrived in the tortilla industry.

Many factories, including some smaller shops, now use machines to do the smashing, cutting and baking, producing thousands of tortillas a day.

About 25 tortilla factories operate throughout Orange County, and competition is rife. But one part owner says she knows which tortilla factory is tops.

“We’re No. 1,” said Shirley Perez, who is also assistant manager of La Rancherita in Santa Ana. “The others are good for restaurants, but the tortillas for home cooking, ours is the best. We have people come from everywhere. They come from Los Angeles and they come as far as Mission Viejo just to get our tortillas and our bread.”