Milling & Baking News - May 1, 2012 - 28

Tortilla Update 

Tough times in tortillas? Not so fast
Manufacturers, food service outlets see value in adding nutrition
lthough data from SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago-based research ﬁrm, suggest tough times in the tortilla category, executives in the tortilla industry paint a different picture. Unit sales of refrigerated tortillas tracked by SymphonyIRI totaled 99,239,700 in the 52 weeks ended March 18, down 9% from the same period a year ago, while dollar sales slipped 6.5% to $215,101,000. In the hard/soft tortillas/taco kits segment, unit sales eased a shade less than 1% to 643,489,500, while dollar sales rose 1% to $1,392,323,000. But Joe Rabaglia, vice-president of marketing at Azteca Foods Inc., Chicago, said the data doesn’t accurately portray the segment. Mr. Rabaglia said there is a “blurring” with the data because many products may be sold either in the refrigerated case or dry. As a result, tracking sales data speciﬁcally for “refrigerated” or “dry” products is tricky. “We deﬁnitely believe the refrigerated tortilla section is viable,” he said. “We believe it provides fresher perspective.” As a segment leader, Azteca is always on the lookout for new products that can help “rise the tide” in the category, Mr. Rabaglia said. To that end, the

company last year looked to capitalize on consumers’ demand for variety and nutrition with the widespread introduction of Azteca Ultragrain tortillas, which are made with Ultragrain ﬂour provided by ConAgra Mills, Inc., Omaha. “UltraGrain is a better product from a nutrition standpoint,” Mr. Rabaglia said. “We’ve found people have no preference between Ultragrain and traditional product — especially with kids.” Mr. Rabaglia said the tortilla category is going to continue to grow as more and more people adopt ethnic foods. “I think it’s going to have nice, steady growth over the next few years,” he said. Mission goes artisan Irving, Texas-based Mission Foods Inc., a subsidiary of Gruma Corp., is the nation’s largest refrigerated tortilla maker with dollar sales approaching $100 million and unit sales of more than 38 million, according to SymphonyIRI. The SymphonyIRI data suggest sluggish growth, but Mission is trying

to recapture consumer interest. “In terms of emerging consumer trends, we at Mission Foods feel that in recent years there has been a shift,” said Peter Thornﬁeld, director of marketing at Mission Foods. “Today’s consumers have a more sophisticated palate and are looking for a different and unique eating experience.” To appeal to that sophisticated palate Mission Foods this past fall introduced Artisan Style Tortillas. The tortillas — available in corn and whole wheat blend, ancient grains, multigrain, and ﬂaxseed and blue corn blend — have up to 33 grams of whole grains per serving. Mr. Thornﬁeld said the “foodie” was top of mind when Mission developed the Artisan Style Tortillas. Nutrition also big in food service Improving the nutritional quality of tortillas is a focus at Denver-based Chipotle. “We’re improving our ﬂour tortillas to make them taste better,” said M. Steven Ells, chairman and co-chief executive ofﬁcer of Chipotle, in an April 19 conference call with analysts. “(We want them to be) more nutritious with twice as much whole wheat as our current tortilla and free of preservatives. We’re already serving this new tortilla, which is very similar to the tortilla we’re using in our London restaurants, in our restaurants in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Not only is this a better tasting and more nutritious tortilla, but removing preservatives and increasing its nutritional content also brings it more within our philosophy of serving Food With Integrity. “We’re also working to improve our soft corn tortillas. We have developed an improved recipe for more consistent corn tortillas made from a combination of white and yellow corn masa ﬂour ... We’ve begun testing these tortillas in Portland and our Chelsea restaurant in New York and if successful, we’ll roll these new soft corn tortillas out before the end of the year.” MBN
— Eric Schroeder

AB Mauri, Caravan launch tortilla blends

B Mauri, Chesterﬁeld, Mo., and Caravan Ingredients, Lenexa, Kas., are introducing several products of interest to the tortilla category later this year. ESL Home-Style Tortilla Blend Pack, Short SL Home-Style Tortilla Blend Pack, ESL Soft Tortilla Blend Pack and Short SL Soft Tortilla Blend Pack from AB Mauri are specially formulated for ﬂour tortillas. AB Mauri said the free-ﬂowing blend packs provide regulated gassing rate of reaction for optimum product performance; convenient use, eliminating scaling of minor ingredients; tolerance and consistency in all types of processes; and enhanced ﬂexibility of home-style over the shelf life; and Base Pack ingredients shelf life of up to four months. Additionally, the ESL blend packs have a ﬁnished tortilla shelf life of up to 40 days, while the Short SL blend packs have a ﬁnished home-style tortilla shelf life of up to 5 days. AB Mauri also this summer will introduce Tortilla DA Baking Powder Plus, which is a specially formulated chemical leavener the company said is “ideal for home-style and soft four tortillas.” The enzyme formulation provides ingredients shelf life up to nine months the company said. Caravan Ingredients this past week said it has introduced tortilla grains blend, a specially formulated blend of grains and complementing ingredients for the production of tortillas and other baked goods. “Tortilla grains blend allows manufacturers the ability to produce a multi-grain tortilla without voids and tears in the tortilla surface,” Caravan said. “With softer and ﬁner particulates, this product provides tortillas and other pressed or sheeted products a multi grain color, appearance, and ﬂavor without damaging the integrity and functionality of the product. Caravan said tortilla grains blend works well in both small and large bakeries and may be applied to any baked good, particularly pressed or sheeted products such as tortillas, ﬂatbreads and crackers. MBN

28 / May 1, 2012 Milling & Baking News

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