Iowa City resident runs homestyle tortilla factory
In the past year, Iowa City resident Kavir Ramos began running Tortillas Chihuas, a factory that makes and sells handmade tortillas.
Kavir Ramos puts tortillas into a bag at Tortilla Chihuas on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Ramos is a DACA recipient and opened the factory to model his grandmother’s recipes.
October 31, 2018
The smell of flour permeated the air as 20-year-old Kavir Ramos flattened carefully sculpted balls of dough into disks. The grills in Iowa City’s newest addition — Tortillas Chihuas — sizzled as tortillas cooked, waiting to be packaged and sent to local vendors.
In February, Ramos, a long-time resident of Iowa City, started a tortilla factory in Iowa City to celebrate his culture. Since then, his business has taken off.
Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, Ramos grew up with his grandma, always making tortillas for his family to eat. The tortillas made at his factory, Tortillas Chihuas, are handmade using a recipe from Mexico, Ramos said.
“It’s something popular in my family. We grew up eating it, it’s our bread. It’s something we have every day,” he said. “We just wanted to share our culture with everyone here in Iowa City and show people our food.”
The establishment received a lot of attention for being a business run by DACA recipients, Ramos’ sister, Valeria Ramos, said in an email to The Daily Iowan.
Ramos’ family puts in long hours with him and stays at night to help him fill all the orders, Kavir Ramos said. His parents have guided and supported him through everything with the business, he said.
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Their father is the one behind the start of the family business, Valeria Ramos said. He always wanted to start a business, and gave Kavir Ramos the opportunity to run it. He has put in a great deal of effort and hard work in starting the business for Kavir Ramos and the rest of the family, she said.
Tortillas Chihuas started with 10 clients and grew by two or three each day until it reached the more than 20 clients the tortilleria now serves, Ramos said.
One of Ramos’s clients is local burrito vendor Kyle Sieck, the owner and operator of Heartland Burrito. Sieck uses Ramos’ tortillas to make the burritos he sells at the Iowa City Farmers’ Market and in his food truck.
Sieck met Ramos earlier this year while looking for local-source tortillas to use for his burritos, he said.
The tortillas are fresh, and Ramos delivers them soon after making them, Sieck said. The tortillas are soft and hold up well when used to make burritos, he said.
“People like them; people definitely like them,” Sieck said. “If the tortillas are heated up, you can really taste the difference. The flavor really comes out.”
Tortilla Chihuas is the only tortilla manufacturer in Iowa City. Sieck tries to use as many local resources in Iowa City as he can. He said the Ramoses are hard-working people who put out a quality product.
Currently, Tortilla Chihuas is sold at Hy-Vee, Fairway, New Pioneer, and local Mexican stores. The plan is to expand all throughout Iowa and be in every store a tortilleria can be and to possibly offer new products, Ramos said. He would like to expand either east to Davenport or west to Des Moines, he said.
“We’re just a hard-working family trying to make our dreams happen and thrive in this country,” Valeria Ramos said. “I would really like for people to see that.”
