Our History

1949

Roberto González Barrera and his father, Roberto M. González Gutiérrez, establish GRUMA in Cerralvo, Nuevo León, Mexico. Its creation solves the problem of the conservation of nixtamal (processed corn meal) in the production of tortillas, the staple food of the Mexican people. Thus begins a long road toward improving the nutrition of Mexicans.

1950s

During this decade we perfected the quality of the "nixtamalized" corn flour, as well as its manufacturing process, thus achieving a better quality tortilla. Our beloved trademark MASECA was born. The name of this extraordinary product was invented by Mr. Roberto González Barrera and derives from the concepts of "Masa + Seca" (dry + dough), i.e., dehydrated corn flour.

1960s

This was a period of expansion for GRUMA nationwide. We opened seven new corn flour mills. The use of corn flour in Mexico began to become a reality. MASECA began to position itself as a synonym for quality, but also as a staple food in the Mexican diet.

1970s

In the mid-1970s, we arrived in the United States and purchased the Mission Foods plant in California. What GRUMA learned in this country and its subsequent success in the world's most developed market, would lead us to mature as company and accelerate our technology development even more.

1980s

As part of our expansion strategy into the international market, we acquired 10 plants in the United States. In the United States we also acquired "Guerrero", a brand with strongroots in southern California, which is now very beloved by the Mexicans in this country.

1990s

In 1990 we built our tortilla mega-plant on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. It is now the world's largest plant with a capacity of 14 million units per day As a result of the merger of production at the Canoga and Guerrero plants, in 1995 we built our plant in Rancho Cucamonga, in Los Angeles, California, which surpassed the Olympic plant's production when it achieved recordbreaking production of 25 million tortillas per day.

2000s

After maintaining commercial relations for the sale of tortillas from the United States, GRUMA establishes its first tortilla plant in Europe, in the city of Coventry in England. With its famous wraps, it gains the preference of British palates.

2010s

In Panorama City, California, GRUMA inaugurates a plant specially designed to comply with the highest standards in sustainability and care of the environment. In the United Kingdom, MISSION brand launches its Flatbreads of the World line, strengthening GRUMA´s position in the production of flatbreads. GRUMA is the official sponsor of the 2010 World’s Fair held in Shanghai, in which 57 international organizations and 192 different countries participate. Mexican cuisine is promoted through the MISSION brand in the Mexican pavilion.