CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The buttered tortilla is among HEB's most sought-after products. The process starts with just a few ingredients: flour, salt, lard, and water.
Workers roll out the dough and place it onto a conveyor belt, where it is flattened and cooked. Butter is worked in first — a key step for the store's top-selling variety.
The flour tortilla's roots in South Texas go back thousands of years. The flour tortilla in South Texas dates back to the late 1500s, when Spanish colonizers made their way to Mexico with wheat seeds as part of their effort to bring their European diets to the Americas.
Northern Mexico's climate, known to be dry and hot, proved ideal for wheat, which became a crop that could withstand the conditions year-round.
Over time, the flour tortilla became a staple in homes all over northern Mexico — including right here in the Coastal Bend.
HEB's flour tortillas — sold in stores across Texas, including Houston and Austin — are all made in Corpus Christi, and one location alone sells between 500 and 600 packets every single day.
Beyond the buttered tortilla, HEB offers several options, including protein, wheat, Southwestern, and Mitad y Mitad — a mix of corn and flour.
HEB also carries several Mi Tienda — which means "My Store" in Spanish — products year-round, showcasing the Latino influence the city and state live and eat every single day.
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