Chicago-based Azteca Foods, founded by Arthur Velasquez and nine other Mexican-American businessmen and members of the Azteca Lions Club in 1970, takes pride in its heritage and has worked toward creating a highly recognizable brand of refrigerated tortillas. Although the company has been through changes in ownership since its inception, the Velasquez family maintains complete ownership today.

Azteca Foods produces a full line of tortillas, including corn, die-cut flour, pressed flour, salad shell and a healthful line under the Buena Vida label. Currently, the Buena Vida line offers low-carb, whole grain, fat-free and organic tortillas. “We are the number one brand of refrigerated tortillas in the country, and that is our focus,” says Renee Togher, president. “We're also the only company that makes die-cut for retail, and that's important for us as well.” Die-cut are reportedly more similar to hand-streteched tortillas.

Currently, about 70 percent of the company's business is retail, most of which is sold refrigerated. The remaining 30 percent is sold to foodservice. Its foodservice business is split relatively evenly between frozen and ambient. Azteca's ambient, or shelf stable line, with a shelf life of 120 days, is produced under the Baja label.

Building a brand

As the only one of the original owners who had a business degree, Velasquez was placed in charge of the company at its inception. Joanne Velasquez, Arthur's wife and Renee Togher's mother, also became involved in the company early on. “They were the first to [indicate] shelf life on tortillas and sell them refrigerated — mainly to non-Hispanics,” Togher says. Once the company established a shelf life for its refrigerated tortillas, we started to sell them to grocery stores. “That was the beginning of the Azteca brand,” she adds.

In 1984, Azteca was sold to Pillsbury. At that time, the company operated two facilities — its current location and another one about a mile away. “Pillsbury had developed some patents and brought in new equipment,” Togher says. “Pillsbury tested a new line of products. One of the products was the salad shell that we still sell today. We had a patent on it for years. Now, there are a couple of companies that are trying to produce the same thing, but the quality just isn't there.”

Pillsbury owned Azteca for five years, but after Grand Metropolitan PLC, United Kingdom, purchased Pillsbury, it decided to divest all the ethnic-type companies it wasn't interested in. “I don't think my mother and father ever got it out of their system,” Togher says. “When they had an opportunity to buy the company back, they jumped at it, and that was in 1989. At that time, there were some other investors, but now the family has complete ownership.”

Before Pillsbury entered the picture, Azteca only made tortilla chips at its current facility, while tortillas were made at its other facility, but it has expanded significantly since that time by adding a corn room, a die-cut room, a press room and cooler space. Management is now investigating expansion plans.

Die-cut tortillas

Focus groups revealed that many of Azteca's customers prefer die-cut versus pressed tortillas. Then there are those who prefer die-cut for certain uses. While consumers might not necessarily call a tortilla “die-cut” or “pressed,” they call them “thicker” or “thinner,” or other similar terms.

“It amazed me during our last focus group that some people used our pressed for certain things and die-cut for others,” Togher says. “I thought they'd have a preference for one type or the other. But, even in my own family, I have one son who likes the die-cut and one who likes the pressed.”

Although the tortillas have similar uses, some prefer pressed for overstuffed tacos, while others prefer die-cut in enchiladas or similar casserole-type recipes, Togher adds. Die-cut perform better in some applications because they're not as thick and chewy.

Azteca has five die-cut lines, two of which are used for tortilla chip production. Each line produces about 3,000 lb. of finished product per hour. Three of the lines run 24 hours per day, five days a week, while the others run 16 hours per day.

In the die-cut tortilla room, smaller quantity ingredients are measured into a minor ingredients system, while bulk ingredients are automatically fed into a mixer to produce 1,000-lb. batches for each of the three lines. Each line is capable of producing 3,000 lb. per hour, notes Jim DeCoste, vice president of operations.

As dough is sheeted and conveyed through cross rollers, it spreads and becomes thinner. Another set of gauge rollers makes the dough slightly thinner and wider. A second set of cross rollers works the dough in all directions, followed by a final set of gauge rollers that sets the dough to its final thickness, DeCoste explains.