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Aranda Vice President Sidney Lewis shows off some of the tortillas produced at his company's new North Las Vegas factory. Aranda's Tortilla Factory new 18,000-square-foot plant can produce 4,000 dozen corn tortillas and 800 dozen flour tortillas hourly. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

New factories to boost local tortilla production

New plants opening in Southern Nevada

Two family owned companies are building new factories in Southern Nevada that will increase production of tortillas.

One, opened this month, is Aranda's Tortilla Factory, an 18,000-square-foot plant at 2912 N. Commerce St., Another, a 20,000-square-foot project for Tortillas Inc., is going up at 3955 Puebla Drive and is scheduled to open this summer.

The Aranda family of Northern California operates the Aranda's factory. It makes flour and corn tortillas for sale and distribution to hotel-casinos, restaurants and retailers in Southern Nevada and elsewhere, said Robert Aranda, who's in business with his father, Victor, uncles Javier Aranda and Vicente Aranda and family friend Sidney Lewis.

The factory will also produce, sell and distribute Casa Sanchez salsa and is adding machinery to make tostadas and chips.

The Gutierrez family of Las Vegas operates Tortilla's Inc., founded here in 1979. The factory will make flour and corn tortillas, chips and tostadas under the Los Arcos and La Mazorca brands.

The factories are also viewed as a boon to Nevada's burgeoning Hispanic community.

"This is exciting news," Otto Merida, chief executive officer of the Latin Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas, said of the new factories. "Companies are investing in our community and employing in our community."

Last May, the Census Bureau reported the state's Hispanic population grew 217 percent between 1990 and 2000, rising to 393,970 from 124,419.

Gustavo "Gus" Gutierrez, who started Tortillas Inc. by loading tortillas in the back of his car and searching door to door for clients, has leased the company's current space, at 1705 Stocker St. in North Las Vegas, since 1979. His client list now boasts hotel-casinos, the King Ranch Markets and the Ricardo's restaurant chain.

"We've outgrown our space," Gutierrez said. "It's been a lifelong dream to have our own space and now it's happening."

Gutierrez said his 50 person staff will double when the new $3.4 million factory opens in late June or early July. The new plant will double his corn tortilla output from 2,400 dozen an hour to 4,800 dozen an hour, Gutierrez said, and will produce flour tortillas, not made in the North Las Vegas plant, at a rate of 800 dozen an hour.

The Aranda family has big operations in California, operating two Casa Sanchez salsa plants in San Francisco, an Aranda's tortilla factory in Stockton and restaurants in Salinas, Richmond and San Francisco. The family also operates El Rodeo, a Las Vegas restaurant.

Robert Aranda said the new factory will employ 50 people at first and will probably expand to 100 workers as business accelerates. He said the new factory produces 4,000 dozen corn tortillas and 800 dozen flour tortillas hourly. The factory will have chip-making machinery by March and tostada-making machinery by April. Until then, Aranda said his family will import chips and tostadas from California.

So far, Robert Aranda said, 19 Raley's supermarkets and four Los Compadres ethnic food markets in Las Vegas stock and sell Casa Sanchez salsa. Los Compadres also sells Aranda's tortillas, he said.

Merida said he hopes the new factories serve as a symbol of Hispanic business strength and a lure to movement-minded Hispanic-owned businesses in California, Arizona, Texas and other states.

"Many people don't realize the growth of the (general) population and the Hispanic population that's happened here," Merida said. "Maybe (out-of-state companies) will look at these developments and decide to do some some research to see what's going on in Southern Nevada."