José and Mary Tamayo always had a family focus. After many years of working on the railroad in the Midwest, José and Mary retired in the 1970s and followed their five sons out to the West Coast where they had relocated to attend college. Soon an idea for a family business was born, and La Tortilla Factory, based in Santa Rosa, CA, came to life, a business that eventually settled on manufacturing tortillas.
“The brothers wanted to find a way to put their business degrees to use,” notes Sam Tamayo, vice chair of La Tortilla Factory and José and Mary’s grandson.