Help Benny Blanco Tortillas get a real Kitchen!

Frugality has been the name of my game. We currently operate out of our garage-turned-kitchen. When we outgrew our tiny home style fridge, I found a $15,000 (new) commercial fridge for a thousand bucks, put another thousand into it, and BAM- a place to store everything. When we just couldn’t make any more tortillas on our 36” electric griddle (I literally spent 26 hours in front of it once) I found a used gas model with 3 times the cook space for just over a grand. It would have cost 6 times that new. Two full days of disassembly, scraping, power washing, and more scraping, and we finally had a grill ready to use. But now we needed more cooling capacity. A true tortilla cooling conveyor carried a price tag of $35,000. Aw hell no. I contacted a local machine shop who specialized in restaurant equipment repairs. They could build me something similar from pizza oven conveyors for 1/10th of the price. I had to make a few modifications of my own, but we now make 3 times the tortillas per hour, with only a 50% increase in labor.

My dough cutter and rounder is 90 years old.

My truck is 50 years old.

My heated press, by my best estimation, has pressed right at ONE MILLION tortillas. It's a "light duty" model.

My work tables were made by me in my front yard.

My wash sink was picked up at auction.

My fancy new bag sealer is on loan from Arcadia Meat Market.

I do almost all my own repairs (and all my own stunts).

I’ve never spent a dime in advertising.

(even our amazing vacations that I share with you are technically free, paid for by credit card points)

And here we are, bursting at the seams. I literally can’t make any more tortillas out of my garage-turned-kitchen. I can’t hire any more people because I have no space, and I can’t invest in new equipment for the same reason. I am stuck in this awful place of “I can’t increase production until I expand, and I can’t afford to expand until I increase production.” A good problem to have, and yet still a problem.

So here I am, asking for help.

Call it a character flaw, but I am the worst at asking for help. ESPECIALLY when it comes to money. It’s anathema to my very being. However, I cannot take the next step without help.

GoFundMe has entered the chat…

We’ve found a 2,000 sq ft space in Apache Junction (where I live now) that we can share with another amazing bakery, and will allow us to increase production to never before seen levels! I can get a bigger mixer that can make more than 72 burrito blankies at once. We can get a thermostatic grill that doesn’t require temperature adjustments every 4 and a half minutes. We can give employment to more people that need the flexibility that I offer. We can make more regular deliveries to our local food kitchen, and hopefully add more places to donate. And last, but not least, we can get tortillas to more retail locations across the valley. I turn down requests at least weekly, and it pains me to turn away business.

The plan is to stay at just the Gilbert Farmers Market. Managing multiple markets is tricky, and extremely risky with a perishable product like ours. But we can spread our goods across the valley. AND THEN… We can start shipping! Fresh tortillas delivered to your doorstep anywhere west of the Mississippi!

That is the next step in world domination. Orders collected through the week. Made fresh on Monday morning, shipped out Monday afternoon, and in your hands by Wednesday. Between an uncertain Covidian future, the move towards online purchasing, and the desire for healthy, high quality, hand crafted goods, I do believe the sky is the limit.

In addition to the GoFundMe, we are doing an Amazon registry! If sending ten bucks my way is a little too impersonal, the Wishlist is the way to go. I will no longer be able to use my wife’s spatulas in a pinch, or her mixing bowls. We need a new scale, more dough scrapers, etcetera etcetera. Each piece of equipment will be lovingly christened with the name of its donor. Brenda the Blender, Steven the Spatula, Francis the Fan, and Vic the Vacuum Sealer. I think you get it.

If you would be so kind, please consider helping us grow this little Tortilleria into a force to be reckoned with! And if you are unable to help, please consider sharing on social media, and send good vibes our way.

We are hoping to raise the necessary funds by New Year's day, 2022. Can you help us?

Frequently asked Questions:

Why don't you do a shared kitchen?

Shared spaces are great for low volume. We are making over 10,000 tortillas a week right now, and we need a much bigger space. Our equipment is also very specialized, and does not work for any other applications.

What about grants and bank loans?

We are currently applying for grants, and working with the SBA for small business loans, but the process is lengthy, and our volume, while too high for my garage, is low enough that the loans available are small, and not very favorable.

What are you doing with the money?

We will buy duplicates of the equipment that we have now, with some of it being bigger and more efficient. The funds will give us a buffer to hire more people, and have a more thorough training protocol. And it will allow us to make improvements to the building we are trying to lease, to allow for ease of cleaning and upkeep.

Are you going to do more farmers markets around the Valley?

That's not in the cards. Logistics for multiple markets are tough, and carry a lot of risk for a shorter shelf life product like tortillas with no preservatives. Gilbert is my home crew. But we will expand our offerings to other locations around town, like we currently do with Arcadia Meat Market, Steadfast Farm Store, and Main St. Harvest.

How do we know you're not just going to put a giant turbo on Rhonda?

You don't. I just might.

Why should we help you?

Honestly? I don't know. I don't like asking for money. I have been able to get by for so long with just sweat equity. When it was just me, I could just work longer, get up earlier, skip sleep. But now I have a crew, and I want to provide them with better working conditions, and better benefits. The only way to grow to the point of offering those is to expand.

We also pride ourselves in giving back to the community. Between The Porcupine Project, our local food kitchen, several charity organizations around town, we love to give, and to help. Getting bigger only allows us to give more freely.

And if I am being completely honest, I have gotten close to burnout working 80 hour weeks for so long. Here's hoping that moving to the next level can help me get that under control.

Thank you for reading this far. I truly appreciate you taking the time, and will be eternally grateful for even a dollar to help us move forward. THANK YOU!!