World’s Largest Tortilla Maker Closes Plant in Pueblo, Colorado, Laying Off Roughly 100 Unionized Workers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 17, 2026
CONTACT: Carla Wyatt | cwyatt@ufcw7.com | 303.425.0897 ext. 410
World’s Largest Tortilla Maker Closes Plant in Pueblo, Colorado, Laying Off Roughly 100 Unionized Workers
Pueblo Institution in Business Since Late 1950s to Close Its Doors
PUEBLO, Co. – On Friday, with no advance warning to workers or the union, corporate executives from Mission Foods came to Pueblo to tell approximately 100 workers that the Company’s Pueblo plant would cease to operate effective immediately. Workers, some of whom have been at the plant for more than 4 decades were told to immediately pack their things and leave, with production having ceased. Long-time workers were shocked by the suddenness of the news, with some in tears and others angered at the decision.
Mission Foods is a subsidiary of Mexican corporation Gruma S.A. (BMV:Gruma) one of the world’s largest food businesses, and the largest corn flour producer and tortilla maker. Gruma is a nearly $5 billion business, is controlled by billionaire Juan Antonio González Moreno and his family, and is connected with Mexican mega-bank Banorte.
The plant was a veritable institution in Pueblo, having been founded as Candy’s Tortilla Factory by the legendary Candelario “Candy” Estrada in the late 1950s. Plant workers chose to be represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, and have been proudly Union for nearly 4 decades. The plant was purchased by Mission Foods in 1994.
“Mission Foods should have done better by its workers” said Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7. Cordova went on to state, “This closure was the natural result of years of chronic underinvestment in the Pueblo facility, and is a consequence of Mission Foods’ decisions to routinely put profit ahead of its people. Not only is this closure tragic for our Local 7 members, but also for the entire Pueblo community. Sadly, this is yet another case of billionaires choosing to line their pockets rather than nourish the communities they serve.
Local 7 will do everything in our power, including working closely with our government and community allies and the Southern Colorado Labor Council to provide workers with the resources necessary to work through this transition.”
###
Local 7, the largest private-sector Union in Colorado, is affiliated with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union which represents over 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada and is one of the largest private-sector Unions in North America. UFCW members work in a wide range of industries, including retail food, food processing, agriculture, retail sales, and health care.