Taste, freshness, and authenticity – those are the characteristics that Alex Gracia says separates his tortillas from others you might find in this area.
Gracia, a Vardaman High School graduate who is now a senior at Mississippi State University, produces hundreds of tortillas every day at his Calhoun City bakery, “Tortilleria San Felipe,” and distributes them locally to grocery stores, restaurants, and individual families.
“I’m getting a great response so far because people love that they’re hot and fresh and delivered daily,” Gracia said. “I hope it continues to grow as we get the word out.”
Gracia, 22, first pitched the idea to the entrepreneurial program at MSU and earned top prize – $3,000 worth of seed money to create his company. His business plan has since earned him another $3,500 from another young entrepreneur competition.
“I think there’s a lot of potential for it,” Gracia said. “There’s a lot of opportunity here.”
Alex Gracia
The opportunity exists due to the large population of Hispanic migrant workers in Calhoun County and the surrounding area. Gracia, whose family roots are in northern Mexico, said he always ate tortillas growing up, but after coming to Mississippi learned the ones sold here in stores weren’t the same.
“People here eat them and think they’re good, but my mother would make them at the house in Vardaman, and I thought these are so much better. People are missing out on something authentic,” he said. “To us (Hispanics), these tortillas sold in most stores are like rubber. They don’t taste good.”
“I wanted to provide something for the migrant workers here that would remind them of home, their wives and their families, but also introduce something to our culture here in Calhoun County that’s more authentic Mexican.”
Gracia spent months getting the recipe for the dough just right using one from his grandmother.
“I knew what a tortilla was supposed to taste like, but I had never really tried to make them myself,” he said. “I started experimenting with the dough, and now I have it exactly where I want it.”
He purchased a tortilla baking machine in Mexico that is capable of producing 720 tortillas an hour and set it up in his bakery in a building on Bobby Steele’s property in Calhoun City.
The name of the new business, Tortilleria San Felipe, comes from the Mexican ranch where Gracia’s family is from and lives today.
He’s in the process of getting set up to provide his tortillas in packages of 30 to local grocery stores. He currently delivers to the Mexican grocery on Main Street in Vardaman every morning.
“I’ve talked to some Mexican restaurants that are interested as well,” Gracia said. “Mi Valles in Vardaman is using them now.”
Gracia posted fliers throughout Vardaman initially and visited the neighborhoods to spread the word of his authentic Mexican tortillas.
“I’ve been going door-to-door for a while now, and it’s picking up steadily in the Vardaman area,” Gracia said. “They like them because they’re fresh. They’re preservative free, gluten free, and I deliver them hot and fresh daily. I don’t save them for the next day. Everything is baked on a daily basis. When they get home from work, they don’t have to spend an hour and a half making tortillas manually. They can just cook the meal and spend the rest of the evening with their families.”
Gracia also explained his tortillas are made of corn, which is most common in Mexico.
“Most people here, when they think of a corn tortilla, they think of a hard shell. But in reality, in Mexico, there’s no such thing as a hard shell corn tortilla unless you fry it, but that’s rare,” Gracia said. “It’s healthier than flour and bread. I think people here will appreciate that.”
Daily production varies, with as many as 1,800 tortillas baked in a single day, depending on the orders he receives.
Gracia takes the orders by phone, begins preparing his dough shortly after lunch and he and his college friend Alex Sina begin the baking process and then deliver right afterwards.
“We bought some coolers that allow us to keep the tortillas warm while we deliver,” Gracia said.
Oxford, Pontotoc, Tupelo and other surrounding areas are on Gracia’s radar to expand his tortilla operation, but Calhoun is top priority.
“Calhoun County is the heart of it. This is home and where I want to stay,” Gracia said. “I hope we can grow to much greater capacity and possibly expand, but Calhoun will always be in the center of everything we do.”
Gracia accepts orders by phone at 662-688-0782. He can be reached by email at tortilleriasanfelipe@gmail.com.