Tortilla maker learned craft from dad

MATTAWA — Porfirio Luna has had so much success with his business that he’s grown it to three sites, producing tortillas at Rallito de Luna in Mattawa, Pasco and Othello.

For those who knew Luna in Mexico, this is not surprising. He made tortillas south of the border, and his parents were tortilla makers. At about six years of age, Luna started to help them with small chores.

“At 13 years old I started to make tortillas,” he said.

At 14 years old, Luna went to work with an older brother at a tortillería of which his brother was a 50 percent owner.

Luna is originally from Durango. His father, Felipe Luna, sold his tortillas in that state and the adjoining state of Zacatecas. He made corn tortillas only because those are the ones to which Mexico is accustomed.

Before dying in 1998, Felipe was aware of his son’s plans to start a business in Washington, but he never had the opportunity to see it. The paperwork for Rallito de Luna took three years.

Luna was not thinking of business when he crossed the border to the U.S. Actually, he had no idea what he was going to do, perhaps some discovery and trial. He did farm work for a brief period. He then worked three years for Iowa Beef (now Tyson) in Pasco.

Luna, who has lived in Tri-Cities several years and is now a Pasco resident, married Raquél Alamillo of Othello in 1988. Six months later he started to think about having his own business, and his wife concurred. They decided to do what Luna already knew, and they opened in 2001.

Since then, Porfirio and Raquél have worked side by side, sort of. He takes care of employee issues, inventory of raw products, production equipment and general business.

Raquél is in charge of the bookkeeping. The couple has 10-12 employees, depending on need.

“I’m proud that we are able to provides jobs for the community,” Luna said.

Luna put the first Rallito de Luna in Mattawa because of the needs of friends there. While dining with those friends, he noticed their tortillas were turning bad and possibly going to waste.

“They told me they were not able to buy good tortillas close by, and I told them I would make their tortillas,” he said.

Luna named his tortilla factory Rallito de Luna (ray of moonlight) because that was what he considered his son when he was born.

“He was my ray of moonlight,” he said.

Luna decided to make flour tortillas, along with corn, because Raquél, an American originally from Texas, prefers flour. It’s good business to produce for both markets, Luna said.

Luna launched Rallito de Luna as a tortillería only. Later he added a bakery and a small stock of light groceries. At nine months Rallito de Luna started to generate profits.

The Rallito de Luna of Pasco was second in 2009. That tortillería started to turn a profit after two years. The one in Othello opened this spring.

The Othello and Pasco stores also have light groceries. Othello offers baked goods, but Pasco does not.

The Othello Rallito de Luna still has not profited. One problem may be location. It’s on Bench Road outside of the city limits.

Luna will give it more time, but he is starting to think about closure. His investment there and in Pasco was not as great as it was in Mattawa, but the demand on his time has grown greatly. He visits all three stores every day.

“Imagine,” he said. “From Pasco to Othello, to Mattawa to Pasco each day.”

But it could be also that Luna doesn’t close the Othello Rallito de Luna. He’s one who says the first key to success in business is perseverance.

“The other keys are good product, good service and friendly treatment of the customers,” he said.