From the Ground Up

Posted on July 7, 2017

Tortilla maker has a valuable partner at Carolina

Adapted from an article for Endeavors, UNC’s online research magazine,
by Alyssa LaFaro

It’s 3 o’clock on a Monday morning. Sweet-smelling steam wafts through a large warehouse in St. Pauls, just south of Fayetteville. A vat full of golden kernels bubbles while a nearby machine smashes two stones together, grinding freshly cooked corn into putty. Across the warehouse, the sound of whirring machinery signals the start of a conveyer belt.

Hundreds upon hundreds of nearly perfect circles shoot down a production line that transforms them into hot tortillas. Workers stack and pack them into boxes, which will be loaded into trucks and shipped out within a few hours. By 9 that morning, people are buying them at local Hispanic markets.

In the U.S., tortillas — both corn and flour — outsold white sandwich bread in 2010, according to the industry’s trade association. Two years prior to that, American households consumed more salsa than ketchup. In 2014, tortilla chips grossed $1.3 billion. Traditional Mexican fare has become a staple in U.S. households — a fact that, in part, stems from the country’s growing Mexican-American population, now 64 percent of the entire Hispanic populace.

Enrique Elizondo recognized the start of these trends about 12 years ago, so in 2007, he left his production manager job with Tyson Foods and founded Tortillas Carolina in Clinton — which more recently gained the assistance of UNC students and staff with its business planning.

Elizondo began the business with a small Mexican tortilla machine that produced about 1,500 pounds of tortillas per week. Another machine, a warehouse and a decade later, he’s producing 25,000 pounds of corn products each week.

“But we have the space, the machines and the demand to produce 120,000 pounds,” he said. “I want to be doing that this spring. I’m ready to grow.” At present, Tortillas Carolina manufactures table tortillas, corn chips and hot tortillas for restaurants, supermarket chains and Hispanic grocers in North Carolina and South Carolina. Elizondo is ready to expand his reach throughout the Southeast.

“He’s servicing a niche market — not only in North Carolina but across the Southeast,” said Ben Holmes ’17 (MBA). “There’s a real demand for the products, one of their greatest competitive advantages being that they’re made with local North Carolina corn.”

This spring semester, Holmes traveled back and forth to Tortillas Carolina, now based in St. Pauls, as part of his work with NCGrowth — an affiliate of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise that helps businesses and communities create equitable and sustainable opportunities for their people.

Each spring, NCGrowth works with companies from across the state, providing technical assistance to help them grow their enterprise and hire more people from the local community. “Our bottom line is helping create jobs in communities,” said Elizabeth Basnight ’07, manager of entrepreneur technical assistance for NCGrowth. “We want to come into a business and take something off their plate that’s critical for growth — something they don’t have time to do.” Most of the companies she works with are already established with about 10 to 20 employees but have the operating power and capability to hire more people.

Over several months, Holmes and Elizondo worked to develop a detailed business plan for the next five years. “Enrique is managing a lot of different aspects of the business,” Holmes explained. “I’m providing a fresh set of eyes to make recommendations and provide solutions.” Elizondo hopes to attract financing to expand the capacity of the business — and Holmes wants to help him take the next step.

To do so, Holmes has spent hours researching the state of the tortilla industry, examining the national trends in production, revenue, jobs and demand. He even delved into the Mexican restaurant industry and the changing demographics in the U.S. that are affecting the market, as well as how the price of corn fluctuates every year. Through observing these trends, Elizondo hopes to start hedging the price of corn — or reduce the risk of price fluctuations so he can offer his customers a steady price point throughout the year.

Currently, Elizondo purchases yellow corn from growers in Robeson County and white corn from farmers in Mocksville. The blue corn has been grown in Illinois, but Elizondo has convinced local farmers to grow it here, beginning this year.

Elizondo’s corn products are unique not only because most are made using North Carolina corn but also because he’s striving to use all-organic ingredients.

“People are demanding a quality product using fresh corn. The shelf life is never more than three weeks. It’s a tortilla with a clean label, meaning all the ingredients are, as much as possible, organic.” To extend the longevity of his tortillas, for example, Elizondo implements organic vinegar — versus synthetic preservatives — in his recipe to lower pH levels.

“We’re using the same process the Aztecs used,” the Mexico City native added. “We boil the corn, cook it in hydrated lime to remove the husks, and grind it using big stone plates” — a method that literally is thousands of years old.

By next year, Elizondo hopes to increase his production to 165,000 pounds of corn products per week. “We think the market demands, probably, six or seven times the amount of corn products we’re currently producing now.”

Today, Tortillas Carolina delivers its products to stores and restaurants in North Carolina and South Carolina, but Elizondo is in talks with potential clients in Tennessee, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

“I am a true believer that working as a team you will accomplish more — especially when a university is involved,” Elizondo says. “I think being part of NCGrowth has given Tortillas Carolina the opportunity to open its doors to a lot of people, so they’re aware of all the benefits of buying a local product produced with local corn.”

“This guy is on his way,” Basnight said. “I hope he feels like what we have contributed helps him get to where he’s already going. He started this project saying he wanted to produce 80,000 pounds a week, and now he’s saying 165,000. I think our program has been validating for him — he knows he’s going in a positive direction.”

Tacos al Pastor

1 large white onion, halved
1 pineapple, peeled, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup guajillo chile powder
3 garlic cloves, halved
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 large or 2 small chipotle chiles and 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo from canned chipotle chiles in adobo
2-1/2 to 3-pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Corn tortillas
Smoky Two-Chile Salsa
Lime wedges

 •Coarsely chop 1 onion half. Coarsely chop 2 pineapple rounds, discarding core; cover and chill remaining pineapple. Place chopped onion and chopped pineapple in blender. Add orange juice and next 7 ingredients; puree marinade until smooth. Place pork in large resealable plastic bag. Add marinade and seal bag, releasing excess air. Turn to coat. Chill at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill remaining pineapple until warm and slightly charred, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Grill pork with some marinade still clinging until slightly charred and cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer pineapple and pork to work surface; chop pineapple into 1/2-inch cubes, discarding cores. Chop pork. Transfer to platter; toss to combine.
•Meanwhile, finely chop remaining onion half and place in medium bowl. Add cilantro; toss to combine. Grill tortillas until warm and slightly charred, about 10 seconds per side.
•Serve pork-pineapple mixture with onion-cilantro relish, Smoky Two-Chile Salsa, and lime wedges.