I was struck today by a piece of news that in itself was not very striking: a Mexican corporation acquires a tortilla company. It’s the details that surprise:

GRUMA has acquired Rositas Investments PTY LTD, a company that manufactures tortillas in Australia; the closing of this acquisition was Friday, January 27, 2006. The purchase price was $17.6 million Australian dollars, or approximately $13.3 million U.S. dollars.

Rositas, with annual sales of approximately $22 million, manufactures tortillas
primarily in the institutional segment, but also sells through retail chains. Its products are sold under the “Rositas” brand name, which has great acceptance with the Australian consumers.

An Australian tortilla company, no less. I had no idea that tortilla production was now an international industry. Especially when in places like Spain you are hard-pressed to find an edible tortilla. The tortillas made available to the Spanish consumers are either Old El Paso brand (previously only at certain supermarkets) or the new line of tortillas by Bimbo. Apparently the Spanish market is so unfamiliar with this food item (which, incidentally, shares the name of what is arguably the quintessential Spanish dish) that Bimbo has had to name them “Roll’s” (why in English? why the apostrophe? who knows?)
Given this general lack of popularity of tortillas in a Spanish-speaking European market with a large Latin American immigrant population, it is surprising that large-scale tortilla production is happening Down Under.

“With this acquisition, GRUMA reinforces its presence in the international markets and, together with its next tortilla plant in China, it will be better suited to supply the Asia and Oceania markets.”

I always thought that Mu Shu Pork wrappers were suspiciously similar to tortillas de harina.

Hispanic Business.com

Tags: latino market,tortillas, business,international marketing,food,mexican food