Can I just say that the tour of Mission Foods has been one of the highlights of this year, if not in the entire existence of Springs Bargains? So much fun to be able to connect with readers in real life, see one of our favorite foods being made, and understand more of the history and mission of the awesome company that sponsored my trip to a blogging conference earlier this year.
This morning about 35-ish Springs Bargains readers were able to take a tour of the Mission Foods factory in Pueblo. It was just like being on a live episode of Food Network’s Unwrapped show – only way better! We started by learning about Mission’s efforts to reduce waste and energy, about the company’s history and vision, and then took a tour of the actual production facility.
I wanted to take notes but couldn’t find a pen! They produce an incredible amount of product every day, supplying Colorado and surrounding states with tortillas and chips. One of the most interesting things to me was how much of the food service industry they supply as well. Everything from Chipotle to Taco Bell to Chili’s!
(By the way, I recently discovered that you can find those huge tortillas like Chipotle uses at just about any grocery store. They’re sold under the Guerrero brand, which is just another division of Gruma Corporation, the company that covers Mission as well. If you liked the Better Than Chipotle Burrito recipe but felt like something wasn’t quite right, try those tortillas!)
Mission gave all the attendees, including the kids, reusable grocery bags with their Mission Green logo, filled with Mission products like chips, queso, salsa, tortillas, and even pork rinds!
Photos and video aren’t allowed in the production facility, but it wouldn’t have done justice anyway – no way to capture the awesome smell of fresh tortillas on video! I was able to take a little bit of video during the Q&A time, though, so here you go:
Again, thank you so much to Mission Foods for allowing us this opportunity! Here’s hoping we can do it again next year! You can view more pics on Facebook and upload yours there as well.
Got any questions about Mission Foods and the products they make? We can get answers, just ask in the comments! For those of you that went on the tour, what did you think was the most interesting part? The most interesting thing you learned? Please share!
I’d love to set up a field trip for my homeschool group. Can you tell me the best way to do that? Thanks for letting us know about it!
Sharon, they do tours on a limited basis – email me and I’ll give you contact info. :)
I would also love to tag up with Sharon’s homeschool group if she gets it together! Can you give her my email?
Tresa, I can’t because of privacy policy issues. But, you could maybe connect via Facebook (if your settings are such that you can receive messages from anyone), or you can post the info here, but know that you should “jumble” your email address so spam bots don’t pick it up.
The tour was absolutely amazing!! Thank you, Carrie!! ;)
The most interesting part was the HUGE amount of tortillas and chips that are produced per
hour/day/year…….
I was also pleasantly surprised by the “goodie bags” that Mission gave to everyone attending the tour!!
I was impressed with the friendliness of the employees, and how much time they spent willing to answer questions. It is always fun for me and my kids to see things being made, and the amazing network of machines engineered to do it so quickly. Never realized they supplied tortillas and chips to so many restaurants!
No kidding! I kept thinking “man, I can totally figure out how to duplicate these restaurants’ food now!” ;)
perhaps you should pursue a series of posts on copycat recipes! We ate dinner at Applebee’s, and ordered the nachos. :)
LOL, I would need some help on that one! We eat out so rarely that I wouldn’t even know where to start. How about a “Better Than The Restaurant” series? ;)
It sounds like it was so awesome!
The tour was great. I had my kids write “thank yous” to Mission Foods today as part of school. The most interesting thing that I learned was that some restaurants order their chips just baked so they can fry them fresh for their customers. I hadn’t thought about that before. Thanks Carrie, for setting it up!
Sounds like you all had a great time! I remember touring the Hostess bakery once when I was little. The whole process was so awesome I never forgot it. Does anyone know of other factories or cool places like this who might do tours in our area?
Dee, I believe Sinton Dairy still does tours…http://sintondairy.com/home.html I remember touring their place when I was in elementary school (a really, really long time ago).
Wow! I’m bummed I missed it. I would have loved to take the tour. I’m glad you all had a great time and I’d definitely be interested in attending if it happens again next year.