A Visit to La Tortilla Factory

By Molly Kimball, RD, CSSD

I’ve been quite a fan of La Tortilla Factory’s tortillas since back in my college days (which, let’s just say was more than a decade ago.  Okay, more than a decade and a half ago).  So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to tour the LTF production facility a few weeks ago, when my husband and I were in Sonoma for our annual get-away vacation over the holidays.

 

So let me first start by saying that if you like La Tortilla Factory now, you would really love them after an inside glimpse….

For starters, they truly are a family-owned, family-run operation.  From grandparents to grandsons to moms and cousins, the Tamayo family is amazingly hands-on and present in the nitty-gritty of daily operations.  They know the in’s and out’s of every aspect of production, from R&D to the finished product.

We started out in LTF’s beautiful test kitchen, which is essentially their innovation center.  Not only do they experiment with new potential (and nutritious!) ingredients for tortillas, they also use the test kitchen for recipe development & sampling.  Some of the dishes Luz told me about sounded absolutely mouth-watering (sweet brie quesadilla, anyone?)

La Tortilla Factory gave us a sneak peak of their newest product, slated to hit shelves soon: Smart & Delicious SoftWrap Minis – just 50 fiber-rich calories each – can’t

wait to see these on our shelves in New Orleans!

And finally – I’ve got to say, one of the best parts of touring LTF’s facility:  the not-yet-even-packaged sample of a still-warm-from-the-oven tortilla – YUM – my husband was sold, hands down!!!