These days, it seems like a tortilla factory pops up on every corner, from the large companies to the small, one-room operations and everything in between.
It wasn’t long ago that I sat trying to determine what it was about Mi Rancho that made us different from all of the other tortilla factories. What did I come up with? It’s our delicious tortillas that we make every day – taking the necessary steps and honoring authentic processes that even the most popular tortilla factory has long abandoned. It’s the people who work at Mi Rancho who make us unique and the extra steps that we take to ensure they enjoy coming to work each day. It’s over 75 years spent cultivating relationships and traditions. It’s pure tortilla joy.
I truly believe that Mi Rancho makes the world’s best tasting tortillas. Just one bite of our tortillas will prove that. We make our corn tortillas from whole corn kernels that we cook for 10-12 hours before grinding with hand-carved lava stones into fresh masa. Sure, it would be easier and faster to make tortillas using just corn flour and water, but then our tortillas just wouldn’t have that great corn flavor and texture! This authentic process, known as nixtamalization, and the center of our Farm-to-Joy process, truly makes Mi Rancho tortillas stand apart from the rest.
Whenever possible, we source our ingredients from farmers and suppliers in California. We have such beautiful and rich agriculture in our own backyard, so we make it a point to purchase our carefully selected ingredients from local farmers.
All of our wonderful employees are truly the heartbeat of Mi Rancho. My father-in-law was adamant about treating employees like members of the family. That’s what they are to me. I’m in the office every day, and make sure that every employee knows my door is always open for any reason, whether to share a struggle or celebrate a triumph. We focus on things like safety to be sure that each employee is well informed on best practices to minimize injuries. We encourage open feedback for continuous improvement.
My family and I take pride in knowing that Mi Rancho has been in business since 1939. I love knowing that both of my sons, Andrew and Alex, are working at Mi Rancho and preparing to take over as the 4th generation owners. That pride extends into everything that we do at Mi Rancho, a desire to be different – better – in all aspects of the company.
I am so proud of Mi Rancho and all that we’ve become. I can’t wait to see what Mi Rancho does in the future with my boys at the helm. I don’t know exactly what Mi Rancho will be doing in 25 years, or even 5 years, but I can promise you one thing – we won’t be just another tortilla factory.