www.masbakersfield.com

In tortilla heaven

 

There is nothing quite like the scent of just made tortillas — hot and fresh, beckoning familias to sit down together for a delicious meal.

At La Bonita Brand — “Bakersfield’s tortilla factory since 1958” — the aromatic and time-honored process of making this Latino food staple, along with many other favorite culinary products, has been done for 50 years.

That’s a half century of local ownership and local employees, not to mention local loyalty to a brand built on comida buena.

Of course, it didn’t all happen right away — or very easily.

“We work like a family here and have for so many years,” said Edmundo Quezada, 72, a retired co-owner of La Bonita. “We are still here, still satisfied, still happy and still working.”

Recipe for success
Like a good recipe, a good business requires a certain mix of ingredients. And the chef/owner must be willing to re-work that formula when things aren’t right.

For La Bonita, it started in — of all places — an English class.

In 1958, Edmundo Quezada came to the U.S. from Mexico to help his Tia Maria Lopez open La Bonita in Bakersfield. Her brother, YB Quezada, actually founded the company — called La Bonita, “The Pretty One,” the nickname YB gave his daughter — in Los Angeles after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Quezada wanted to learn his new homeland’s language, so he enrolled in a night English class, where he met Juan Ornelas. The pair became friends and would one day also forge a business partnership.

During the busy Christmas season and with the tamale rush in full swing, Quezada hired Ornelas to help deliver La Bonita products in Bakersfield.

Lopez would eventually turn over the company to one of the supervisors at the time. Quezada and Ornelas later bought out that person — and in 1971, the hombres officially became business partners, incorporating their beloved La Bonita.

Not that they were movers & shakers in the corporate world quite yet. Quezada and Ornelas were the only employees, and they also used their personal vehicles for deliveries.

“We used to work hard, come home late, wake up early and go to work,” Quezada said. “It was hard times and not easy.”

Bakersfield was such a small town back in the ‘70s that the company only made about five cases of flour tortillas and 10 cases of the corn variety each day, according to Quezada.

Also in the ‘70s — and repeating recently — gas prices were unsteady and it became difficult for La Bonita to get by.

In addition, there was a cultural culinary barrier to break through as well.

“I think the only challenge was when we tried to offer our products outside the ethnic area, they kind of hesitated,” said Ornelas, 64. “They would say, ‘Tortillas? Who is going to buy tortillas? We don’t have any Mexicans coming in to buy here.’”

A significant corporate improvement came with the purchase of a used van. The $300 ride was then added to the La Bonita delivery fleet, which still included the owners’ cars.

Today, it’s a common sight to see those white La Bonita delivery vehicles around town and what used to be a small company has grown into a successful operation with 25 employees, producing 100,000 corn and flour tortillas weekly, according to Quezada.

The original factory was located on Potomac Avenue in east Bakersfield and has since moved to East California Avenue, which is open to the public for purchases. The La Bonita offices are on Easton Drive.

Many of the workers have been with La Bonita for 20 to 30 years and have seen each other’s families grow.

In 2005, Quezada and Ornelas sold their share of the company to Ornelas’ son, Albert Ornelas, 40, who has actually been with the company for 21 years.

But make no mistake — this co-owner’s son had to start from the bottom and work his way up.

On Albert Ornelas’ first day of employment with La Bonita, his father sent him out to wash company trucks.

So he gathered a hose and soap, ready to start his task — but then it began to rain.

“I went in and my dad said, ‘What are you doing?’” said Albert Ornelas. “I told my dad that it was raining and he said, ‘Just use less water.’”

It was then that Albert Ornelas knew the job was not going to be easy and that his treatment would be nothing less than that of a regular employee.

Now as an owner himself, Albert Ornelas hopes that in the future he can purchase newer equipment to produce twice as many products as they do now, he said.

“I am still trying to figure out how they (his father and Quezada) did it for so long (financially),” said Albert Ornelas. “But, they are still around guiding me in the right direction.”

 

The making of tortillas
At 5 p.m. each weekday, the fresh dough process starts once the delivery truck dumps raw corn into two dispensers at the factory. The kernels are then tossed into 800-pound tanks.

Each container is filled with water and heated at 180 degrees until the water boils.

The corn is cooked from 45 minutes to an hour and cools off for three hours, after which the corn and dough are placed into a grinder.

When the products are combined, it’s time to cut the mixture into 3-inch to 10-inch circles and run through the oven.

Once they’ve cooked just right, the tortillas are placed onto the cooling racks. Then they are put into La Bonita’s packages with the signature red and green logo of a smiling woman wearing her sombrero proudly, and prepared for delivery.

For flour tortillas, the process is a bit more involved.

The ingredients are placed in mixing bowls and combined until there is a consistent dough, which is rounded into dough balls.

These dough balls are set aside for a time so they will become soft for pressing. After which, they are stretched by hand in a hot plate to make round tortillas with the proper diameter.

They are then baked for a mere 20 seconds in a 450-degree oven, cooled and packaged. Flour tortillas are then frozen fresh.

Among the other La Bonita products are: spices, gorditas, masa and tostada shells.

“The customers like our products,” Quezada said. “We still have the same formula — and the stores, restaurants and the people like it.”

Holding on, holding steady
Though La Bonita has seen hard times before, today’s food product market may just be the most challenging they’ve faced.

Even though the demand for the products is still the same, it’s difficult for the company to keep up with their operating costs.

“The food has become like gas,” said Ornelas. “We use a lot of corn and the price has gone up about 100 percent in the last two to three years.”

Plastic, cartons and gasoline are all part of the distribution for La Bonita retail items.

Since gas prices are finally falling, the company’s delivery expenses have received some relief.

However, La Bonita’s higher production costs must be passed on to the consumers — at least for now. Current retail prices for La Bonita products range from about 99 cents to $5.

“They (the consumers) are not happy, but they understand,” said Albert Ornelas. “They may not buy as much.”

Since many of the restaurants, factories and other businesses that La Bonita supplies are now closing or going bankrupt, banks and lenders are restricting La Bonita from obtaining any more capital to update equipment, according to Ornelas.

As a result, sales are down 25 percent from last year, he said.

“We hope that things will get better,” said Ornelas. “Then we will start going back up again.”

And as long as the demand for the products remains strong, La Bonita will meet that demand, he said.

Albert Ornelas hopes to hire more people and increase the business size once the company is able to grow and succeed through the next few years.

“First and foremost, we need to get through these hard times,” he said. “Then hopefully — on the upswing — we would like to combine our two facilities into one and update a little on the machinery and automation.”