Rise & Puff debuts with line of heart-healthy clean label tortillas ‘that puff’

According to cofounders Mark Shaw and Philip Summe, the California company’s debuting product removed eight of the 12 ingredients found in processed supermarket tortillas, enabling its tortillas to ‘puff’.

Industrial chemicals, bleaches, conditioners and preservatives are typically included to whiten, soften and extend shelf life, however, they make it more difficult for dough to rise. A gluten-free variant was achieved without the xanthan gum, but still maintaining the foldability of the tortilla.

M&P Gastronomy has whipped up a new recipe that contains only four ingredients – non-GMO wheat flour, water, avocado oil and sea salt – creating tortillas that puff up and have a flakiness in each bite.

American Heath Month

Rise & Puff's debut includes a trio of thin varieties – Original, Certified Organic and Gluten-Free – that come in at only 100 calories each. More importantly, they contain less sodium than standard versions (170mg versus 420mg) and no sugar.

Shaw and Summe founded the Menlo Park-based company to create tasty products sporting better-for-you clean labels. Both of their fathers died too early from heart disease.

Shaw is a food industry veteran, with product manager experience at companies like Unilever and Marie Callender Brands, while Summe has a background in portfolio management at firms like Crossfields Capital Management, Baylight Capital and Lazard Asset Management.

Rolling out this month (American Heart Month), the award-winning (Great Taste) tortillas take only 60 second to cook, with ‘the finished result presenting a steamy, fluffy cloud of tender deliciousness.’ Stored in the airtight resealable package, they will last 40 days in the refrigerator.

“We believe great taste and better-for-you should go hand in hand and it drives everything we do as a company,” said Shaw.

“Once you try a Rise & Puff Tortilla, you begin to understand why a tortilla is only as good as its ingredients. From mono-unsaturated avocado oil to unbleached wheat flour and the elimination of sugar, we view our tortilla as a canvas for better-for-you eating. Families deserve better, and this is only the beginning.”

US tortilla market ‘stuck in the 50s’

Added Summ, “Rise & Puff fills a tremendous gap in the tortilla market in the US, which is stuck in the 1950s in terms of nutritional profile.

“Pair that with the pandemic, which accelerated consumers' desire to conveniently cook a fresh meal at home, and it's time tortillas make a statement in the better-for-you aisle.

“We firmly believe this is a product that will delight consumers with better taste and better nutrition.”

The tortillas are the first of several culinary innovations being created by Rise & Puff, so watch this space.

Rise & Puff Tortillas are available online and in speciality grocers in the San Francisco Bay area with further rollout in Los Angeles and parts of Texas to follow, for an RRP of $5.99-$8.99 and $28.99 (8ct multi-packs).