Tortillas are better than breadBetter than bread Local tortilla moguls take a big bite out of a growing market in the Intermountain West
CLEARFIELD - Don Julio, a company little known within Salt Lake but that has a big footprint regionally, is making a multimillion-dollar investment in a tortilla press to keep up with demand for a product that's about to outsell white bread. The story of Don Julio began on the Navajo Reservation in the 1970s when LDS Church missionary Craig Fisher, then 19, first tasted fry bread and then tortillas. When Fisher returned to Utah, he worked for Clover Club's Mexican food division, Little Poncho, and eventually decided that tortillas were going to grab a big portion of the U.S. bread market. Fisher started Don Julio in 1993, naming the company after wife Julia but changing the name to a masculine "o." He added a Julia's tortilla brand, as well, and outsourced production until 2002, when the Fishers began making their own tortillas at a 35,000-square-foot plant in Davis County's Freeport Center commercial complex. Another church mission came into play in spring 2006, when Fisher and his wife were called to preside over LDS proselyting duties in Montana. Their son and company vice president, Nate, took over the reins, which he still holds today. "There's been a couple of telephone calls to my father," said Nate Fisher, "but they haven't been more than 10 seconds at any one time." Nate, 36, has a lifetime of experience. He was the company's first employee, making product, stocking shelves, sweeping floors "and just anything else that needed to be done." In fact, the younger Fisher doesn't recall a time when he wasn't in the food business. He remembers seeing the Clover Club potato chip plant from his elementary school in Kaysville and dropping by the office of his grandfather, Verl "VAW" Walker, the facility's general manager. Clover Club, founded in 1938, was a well-known Utah company, but sales declined as the brand repeatedly changed hands. The firm was again put up for sale in 2003 when the Fishers purchased it, bringing Clover Club back to its Utah roots. "Sure it was an emotional decision," Nate Fisher said of the purchase. "But we're humans - every decision has some kind of emotional tug. It was also a great business decision. It was like going to a garage sale and seeing a Picasso masterpiece priced at three bucks." The bond is evident in Fisher's wedding ring. His wife remade it to incorporate the Clover Club symbol from the same company ring that his grandfather had given Fisher in March, a month before the 89-year-old patriarch died. Sales for Clover Club potato chips and other salty snacks have doubled every year since the purchase. On the chips side, sales are evenly split between Don Julio tortilla chips and Clover Club potato chips. But it is Don Julio tortillas, a staple food of Utah's growing Latino population, that make up fully half of all company sales. "We see the tortilla market growing exponentially," said company vice president Greg Bingham, a former Clover Club executive. "With the general population buying tortillas, we see a growth of 15 to 20 percent annually - which is huge." Demand is so great that the plant operates day and night, seven days a week to fill orders. In the next few weeks, when the $3 million tortilla press is fired up, it will crank out 3,800 dozen flour tortillas an hour - nearly three times the number that the older 32-inch press produces. The new 52-inch stainless steel press is 130 feet long, with a 1,000 pound horizontal mixer and a full complement of automatic counters and packaging equipment. Only three employees are needed to operate the giant press, while 11 other workers tend the two older presses, including packaging the tortillas the old way - by hand. A third press produces 800 dozen corn tortillas per hour. The company delivers to all grocery chains in Utah, and to stores in the Intermountain West, including New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. Orders have come from as far away as the Philippines. Don Julio is the second-best selling tortilla brand in the Intermountain West, second to Mission, a brand owned by the Mexico-based Gruma SAB de CV, the world's largest manufacturer of corn flour and tortillas. To differentiate Don Julio, the company uses a secret blend of seasonings. The man behind the recipe is Jacob Toscano, director of operations. He also shuns batch packaging, insisting that all ingredients are handled in-house. "I'm here day and night," said a Toscano, flashing a big grin that nearly blots out a hint of pride. Toscano's wife, Norma, says she wouldn't be half as understanding of his work schedule if she didn't work there, too. She runs the outer office, while 18-year-old daughter Priscilla helps with quality control. Like its 70-year-old predecessor Clover Club, the company is going after the mass market. Even without the gigantic tortilla press, four or five semis leave the Clearfield plant each day, loaded with 216,000 tortillas per truckload. Packages are then delivered by Wonder Bread, putting the products on Utah grocery store shelves 12 hours after they are produced. Nationwide, tortillas and related products are experiencing widespread, dynamic growth - trailing top-selling white bread by only a few percentage points in sales, according to the Virginia-based Tortilla Industry Association. In addition, more than half of commercial food-service businesses use tortillas, according to an association study. Seventy-eight percent of fine-dining restaurants and 74 percent of casual/family dining restaurants include tortillas in their menus. Noncommercial food services reported tortilla usage at 67 percent, with colleges and universities reporting 83 percent and other schools at 76 percent. "The popularity of tortillas is evidenced by increased immigration and the high birthrate of Hispanic Americans," said association director Jim Kabbanim. "It's also a reflection that many other Americans are adopting healthier eating habits. They're choosing to have a wrap instead of a sandwich." The popularity of tortillas is evidenced by increased immigration and the high birthrate of Hispanic Americans. It's also a reflection that many other Americans are adopting healthier eating habits. They're choosing to have a wrap instead of a sandwich. - Tortilla Industry Association Director Jim Kabbanim - Don Julio Vice President Greg Bingham Next-best to sliced bread:
Source: Tortilla Industry Association Don Julio Foods Inc. Brands: Don Julio, Clover Club, Julia's * Products: Flour and corn tortillas, tortilla chips and salsa, potato chips, cheese puffs, dips. * Facilities: Clearfield, Woods Cross, Hermiston, Ore. * Number of employees: 75 * Annual sales: $10 million Hungry? * Fresh tortillas are available at the plant, in Building Z-13 at the Clearfield Freeport Center on Antelope Drive. * Bring cash or checks to the outlet, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For tours, call 801-775-9909. |
