Vallarta Supermarkets
Nixtamalero
Merced, California•Full-time
$18.64 - $19.47 hourly
$18.64 - $19.47 hourly
About the Job
Nixtamalero
Description:
Join the Vallarta Supermarkets Family!
At Vallarta Supermarkets, we’re more than just a grocery store, we’re a vibrant part of the communities we serve. We’re seeking friendly, service-oriented individuals who take pride in delivering extraordinary customer experiences and thrive in a fast-paced, festive environment. If you’re passionate about fresh, quality baked goods and love making people smile, we’d love to meet you!
About the Role:
The Nixtamalero is responsible for producing corn and flour tortilla products from start to finish using traditional methods while maintaining Vallarta’s high standards of quality, consistency, and food safety. This role also supports the department by stocking, rotating, and merchandising products, ensuring freshness and presentation, and providing extraordinary customer service.
What You’ll Do:
At Vallarta Supermarkets, we’re more than just a grocery store, we’re a vibrant part of the communities we serve. We’re seeking friendly, service-oriented individuals who take pride in delivering extraordinary customer experiences and thrive in a fast-paced, festive environment. If you’re passionate about fresh, quality baked goods and love making people smile, we’d love to meet you!
About the Role:
The Nixtamalero is responsible for producing corn and flour tortilla products from start to finish using traditional methods while maintaining Vallarta’s high standards of quality, consistency, and food safety. This role also supports the department by stocking, rotating, and merchandising products, ensuring freshness and presentation, and providing extraordinary customer service.
What You’ll Do:
- Customer Service: Smile, greet, and assist customers with tortilla orders, ensuring friendly and professional service.
- Production: Prepare masa, cook and grind nixtamal, fry tortilla products, and follow company recipes for consistency in quality and weight.
- Sanitation: Clean nixtamal cooking tanks, equipment, and work areas using “clean as you go” principles.
- Stocking & Merchandising: Rotate, replenish, and display tortilla products attractively, ensuring freshness and accurate signage.
- Operations: Package flour and corn tortillas, transport products to/from storage, and follow schematics provided by the manager.
- Safety & Compliance: Follow health code regulations, food safety practices, and Vallarta’s Tortillería Safety Program; report unsafe conditions or equipment immediately.
- Teamwork: Assist coworkers, support training and apprenticeship of new employees, and maintain open communication with the Tortillería Manager.
- Other Duties: Perform additional tasks as directed to support department operations and customer satisfaction.
Physical Requirements:
- Stand and walk for long periods (6–8 hours/day).
- Frequently bend, squat, twist, and reach above/below shoulders.
- Frequent hand use for grasping, pushing, pulling, and fine manipulation.
- Lift and carry up to 25 lbs. frequently and up to 50 lbs. occasionally (dry corn, maseca).
- Heaviest item carried: 50 lbs.; longest distance: 10 feet.
- Work near cooking equipment, fryers, and tortilla machinery.
- Exposure to dust, gas, fumes, heat, and humidity.
- May be required to perform tasks at elevated levels (placing or retrieving items).
- May operate forklifts, carts, or other moving equipment.
What We’re Looking For:
- Ability to learn tortilla production from dry corn through finished product.
- Familiarity with professional tortillería equipment, tools, and ovens (or willingness to learn).
- Responsible, professional, and positive attitude.
- Ability to work effectively as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.
- Basic understanding of English language.
- Must be able to transfer to other store locations within a reasonable commute.
- Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S.
Work Environment:
- Fast-paced retail tortillería setting with direct customer interaction.
- Exposure to perishable products, cooking equipment, and changing conditions.
- Team-oriented, collaborative environment.
- Must work flexible schedule: afternoons, evenings, weekends, and holidays.
Benefits:
Full-Time Team Members:
- Health medical plan: $25/week, plus free dental & vision.
- Free $25,000 Basic Life and AD&D Insurance.
- 401(k) Retirement Plan.
- Paid vacation.
- Access to legal services.
Part-Time & Full-Time Benefits:
- Paid sick time.
- Premium pay for holidays.
- Scholarship opportunities.
- Savings marketplace & credit union membership.
- Recognition programs (birthdays, years of service, spirit days, etc.).
At Vallarta Supermarkets, we believe our culture drives execution. If you’re passionate about tortillas, teamwork, and delivering great service, we invite you to apply today to join our team as a Nixtamalero!
Vallarta Supermarkets is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to inclusion and diversity. We welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives and will consider all qualified applicants for employment in accordance with all state, local, and federal laws. Vallarta Supermarkets participates in the E-Verify program.
About Vallarta Supermarkets
As of 2022, Vallarta counts on 53 stores throughout California (Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Orange, and Fresno counties), and more than 8,000 team members. The Gonzalez family promises to continue to strive for excellence in everything we do so that our valued customers always have a Vallarta supermarket to call their own.From one small carnicería in Van Nuys in 1985 to 53 full-service markets across California, Vallarta Supermarkets is a living, breathing tribute to the hard work and customer dedication of our founding family and all of our valued employees.Vallarta Supermarkets was founded by Enrique Gonzalez Sr., who was later joined in the business by his four brothers, his son and nephew. Their family roots and humble origins began in the tiny town of Jalostotitlán, Jalisco, Mexico, where Enrique and his brothers were raised on a meager farm. Their parents instilled in them at very young ages the importance of family and the power of a strong work ethic to overcome challenges.When the opportunity arose to immigrate in the 1960’s, the Gonzalez family was thankful to stake their claim in the “land of opportunity,” the United States of America. Right away, the five brothers got to work in restaurants, either as short-order cooks or bussing tables. Even though some of the brothers were still in school, they all worked to help the family make ends meet.In 1985, Enrique Gonzalez Sr. began his journey in the grocery business when he opened Carniceria Vallarta in a 1,000 sq. ft market in Van Nuys, CA. He focused on selling the traditional cuts of meats popular in his native Mexico with an emphasis on unequaled quality and the friendliest of customer service. He soon expanded the business to a second location and brought his four brothers into the business. From there the adventure truly began, as they worked together as a family to build both a reputation for excellence and a successful business.The Gonzalez brothers believed that the key to Vallarta’s success would be to combine elevated customer service with the highest quality products to serve the growing Hispanic community whose needs may not be addressed by big chain stores.That’s why, from the beginning, Vallarta Supermarkets offered a wider variety of the freshest, traditional foods from Mexico, and Central and South America than any other store. They offered specialty and traditional items customers couldn’t find anywhere else: cut-to-order Latin-style meats (ranchera, diesmillo, lomo de res), spices, fresh fruit and produce, delicious prepared foods, pan dulce made daily, plus everything else you would expect from a traditional grocery store. Fast forward to today where Vallarta has expanded its offerings to include a juice and aquas frescas bar, tortilleria, bakery (panaderia), a cevicheria and more.