Totis closes Chiapas plant

Thirteen years after opening their plant in Chiapas – an event attended by then Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada and Chiapas Governor Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía – Fritos Totis del Sureste closed the doors of its plant they expected would increase their expansion across Central America and the United States

On January 12, 2015, the then owner of the company, Abraham González Torrez , stated before President Fox that he saw in Chiapas “a very different” future as the state began to project itself as a competitive entity with a considerable international presence.

In the beginning, the plant recruited 200 employees who worked day and night in the production of their snacks, to meet the domestic demand and that of the Central Americand and U.S. markets – selling each bag for MXN$ 2.00.

As the years went by, the company reduced its staff by half and employees only worked day shifts, according to an employee who has asked to remain anonimous.

Last week, the plant managers finally informed all remaining workers they would be closing the plant as the company had “gone broke,” and they began to remove heavy equipment from the facilities.

Two years prior, González Torres sold Totis to La Costeña so they could export their snacks to the United States and Central America.

The CEO of La Costeña, Rafael Celorio, said at the time that the company still had goals to keep growing but in 2016, admitted the company's growth was “slower than anticipated” yet they remained hopeful it would become a “successful” company in time.

Totis

was founded in 1987 and their first product in the market was their famous wheat-flour doughnuts with salt and chili.

Back then, Abraham González Torres was the only employee of the company and he was in charge of preparing them, package them, and transport them to Mexico City's wholesale market ( Central de A bastos ), according to a summary provided by the company. Yet fifteen years later, the company grew and opened plants in Hidalgo and Chiapas , and they sold their products in Costa Rica, Panamá, Belize, Guatemala, the United States, and other countries of the Caribbean and South America.

The expansion of Totis to the state of Chiapas was promoted by President Fox and by the Governor of the state Salazar Mendiguchpia as an achievement of the Puebla-Panama Plan.

Another company part of this plan which opened a plant in Comitán was the textile factory Yachivol S de S.S., which manufactured 5,000 jeans for the brands Members Mark, Perry Ellis, and Ecko Re-Born, but also closed its doors in 2014, after 13 years of operations.

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