Frozen Mexican food maker Ruiz Foods will close its Tulare city manufacturing facility on K St as an active production site this summer, the company said May 29.
Some 215 employees work in Tulare who will lose their job.
The plant opened in 2004 to complement their Dinuba plant and was originally intended to be a short-term additional capacity option according to a company statement.
The family firm was first launched in Tulare with a company history remembering “Ruiz Foods began in a small warehouse in Tulare, California, with two employees, a few appliances, and Grandma Rosie’s recipes for enchiladas, burritos, and tamales.”
They moved headquarters to Dinuba and now is based in Texas as of 2023. Ruiz Foods relocated its corporate office from Dinuba to Frisco, Texas talking about 125 jobs expected by 2026. The company has estimated annual sales of over $1 billion, Ruiz said during his 2021 UC Merced commencement speech.
“After 20 years of service, we have determined that the facility is too small and requires substantial capital investment to meet our manufacturing needs or remain a viable part of the Ruiz Foods network. Ruiz Foods has decided to retire the Tulare plant at the end of our fiscal year and will close between August 30 and Sept. 13, 2024.”
“While this is the right decision for our business, we recognize the impact on our valued Tulare team members and will be working to provide support and options during this transition including, for some, an option to transfer to our Dinuba plant.”
Ruiz Foods Products, Inc. is a privately-owned corporation co-founded by Fred Ruiz and his father, Louis, in 1964. Ruiz Foods sells prepared frozen foods to all channels of distribution: retail, convenience store, clubs, vending, industrial, and food service. Ruiz Foods’ El Monterey® brand is the #1 selling frozen Mexican food in the United States and Tornados®, the company’s snack brand, is a leader on the convenience store roller grill. Headquartered in Frisco, Texas, Ruiz Foods employs more than 4,000 Team Members and has five manufacturing facilities located in California, Texas and South Carolina.