Helen Chavez-Hansen, who is La Tapatia’s CEO and president, had been using the building to make tortilla chips since 1993. It burned in an Oct. 10 fire.
Courtesy of La Tapatia Tortilleria
Fresno native Helen Chavez-Hansen’s heart sank when she received a call from the Fresno Fire Department on a sleepy Sunday morning last month, informing her that the longtime chip-making factory for her business, La Tapatia Tortilleria, was ablaze.
She learned that the 40,000-square-foot building at Belmont Avenue and H Street that held two chip-making lines and a chip warehouse was billowing smoke and spitting out embers as flames licked the interior of its thick, brick walls. It was reduced to charred rubble in the Oct. 10 fire.
Chavez-Hansen, who is La Tapatia’s CEO and president, had been using the building to make tortilla chips since 1993. If it were not for the building’s brick walls that helped contain the flames, the fire could’ve spread to other parts of the company’s property, including several other buildings and the tortilla-making line.
No one was injured in the fire. As of this week, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
“It was like an oven, because the brick kept the flames from spreading,” Chavez-Hansen told The Bee in a Nov. 12 interview. “I really, honestly felt that the good Lord was looking after us, even though we did lose something that was very important to us. The fire was a shock and it’s sad, but at the same time, we’re blessed that we’re all fine. We didn’t lose anyone.”
More than a month later, Chavez-Hansen and her four daughters, all co-owners of the business, are determined to get the business back on its feet as the holiday season quickly approaches. La Tapatia’s chip-making operation accounts for about 25% of the company’s revenue stream. The chips, which are a top-seller during the holidays, typically rake in millions of dollars for the company during its busiest season, Chavez-Hansen said.
The fire is the latest tragedy for the family business, which was struggling amid the pandemic even before Chavez-Hansen’s husband of 26 years died of COVID-19 complications.
“Losing our stepdad was devastating,” said Yvette Cuellar, the company’s director of public relations and marketing and one of the co-owners. “So when something tragic like this happens, it’s like, ‘what more could go wrong?’”
Fresno company sells tortillas, chips across the globe
Since launching the tortilla business in 1969, Chavez-Hansen has expanded the company’s offerings to include corn and flour tortillas, as well as wraps and chips. The company uses an old, artisan technique to produce its tortillas, which involves grinding corn against a hand-carved stone, and has achieved international acclaim for its products.
The products, which are made using locally sourced ingredients from the Central Valley, are sold under several brand names, including La Tapatia, Sol de Oro and Golden Sun, and have landed in grocery aisles, restaurants, markets, schools and prisons across the U.S. The company also exports its products to major food distributors across the globe.
The fire was a huge blow to the family business, but Cuellar said seeing her mother in a state of grief again was even more heartbreaking.
Chavez-Hansen’s husband and Cuellar’s stepfather, John Hansen, died of COVID-19 complications in Dec. 2020 while battling a cancer diagnosis. He was his wife’s biggest supporter, helping her launch the business in the early 1970s and purchasing the building the company would eventually use for its chip-making operations, Cuellar said.
Chavez-Hansen said her husband was an “excellent” partner. Before the business started, he worked as an accountant for a grain exporting company. That role prepared him to manage La Tapatia’s purchasing agreements with corn and flour distributors, she said.
“He had excellent knowledge,” Chavez-Hansen said. “There were things that he could do, and he knew so much about the world and how it affects crops, that our purchasing of raw ingredients was very good. We were a good partnership. Not only that, he was a wonderful step father to my children.”
La Tapatia trying to recover from fire before the holidays
Five weeks after the fire, the family-run business has continued to make its flour and corn tortillas and wraps.
Its chip production stalled, but will resume in the coming weeks, with the help of a company that packages and labels products for a client. The contract packager will help jump-start the chip-making process while the factory gets rebuilt over the coming year, Chavez-Hansen said.
The goal is to bring the chip-making operation back up to full speed before the holiday season kicks into high gear.
“We’ve been working diligently in acquiring a company to help us out,” Chavez-Hansen said. “Time is of the essence — there’s no doubt about that. The clock is ticking.”
Another goal was to retain the 15 to 17 employees who worked in the chip-making factory, especially during a time when many companies are experiencing a labor shortage. The employees have since transitioned to working in other departments and on the tortilla-making line, she said.
“We have loyal, reliable employees,” she said. “It’s been hard hiring people. Everyone has been having that issue — getting good help. It does take very capable people that have really good work ethics.”
Cuellar, the company’s marketing director, is now focused on helping her mother rebuild the factory. She said she’s dedicated to maintaining and growing the business as they continue coping with the aftermath of the fire and transition out of this difficult period.
“My sisters and I grew up seeing our mom work so hard and there were a lot of sacrifices that she had to make as a mom,” Cuellar said. “At the end of the day, what it really comes down to is that we have to be able to move forward and everything that mom has worked for and sacrificed, we got to make sure that we keep it going.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2021 5:00 AM.
Nadia Lopez covers the San Joaquin Valley’s Latino community for The Fresno Bee in partnership with Report for America. Before that, she worked as a city hall reporter for San José Spotlight.
