Exciting news! VIVA, Our Best Lard, is now available in a convenient 2.5 lb tub on Amazon!

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Dining Out | October 21, 2022

Hail La Princesita and Sonoratown in KCRW & Gustavo's Great #TortillaTournament With Good Food's Evan Kleiman; Coast Packing' VIVA® Lard Serves as Not-So-Secret Ingredient For Pair of Winners

Hail La Princesita and Sonoratown in KCRW & Gustavo's Great #TortillaTournament With Good Food's Evan Kleiman; Coast Packing' VIVA® Lard Serves as Not-So-Secret Ingredient For Pair of Winners

KCRW Contributor and Tortilla Tournament Judge, Gustavo Arellano

Boyle Heights Tortilla Powerhouse Finds Fifth Go-Round is the Charm;Sonoratown Flowers Again at Smorgasburg LA

VERNON, Calif. (October 21, 2022) – In a classic win-win, Coast Packing,  the leading supplier of animal fat shortenings in the Western U.S., covered the bases during KCRW and Gustavo’s Great Tortilla Tournament last weekend at Smorgasburg, downtown L.A’s popular outdoor food emporium.     

In the fifth installment of the no-holds-barred challenge – which pits some of Southern California’s most iconic tortilla brands against each other to determine definitively which one reigns supreme – the top two finalists could agree on at least one thing.

As event organizer and Taco USA author Gustavo Arellano wrote, “simplicity was the theme of both winners, and they also shared something in common: La Princesita and Sonoratown are customers of VIVA, the Mexican-geared lard of Coast Packing Company, the Vernon-based family business that’s celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and just so happens to be a #TortillaTournament sponsor. I hammed it up with an empty VIVA® box as we waited for Sonoratown and La Princesita (which uses VIVA in other products, not its corn tortillas) to bring us their freshest jewels.”

Gustavo and KCRW’s Good Food host Evan Kleiman put together an eclectic list of 64 tortillas found around Southern California — 32 corn + 32 flour, in four brackets of 16.

“What could be more delicious than having L.A.’s top tortilla makers embrace the same ingredient as they work their culinary magic,” said Eric R. Gustafson, Coast Packing CEO.  “We’re proud to help those in Southern California taste the difference between food prepared with animal fat shortenings like lard and alternatives like highly processed vegetable oils.  Our congratulations to La Princesita and Sonoratown for their palate-pleasing achievements.”

About Coast Packing Company

Now marking its 100th year in business, Coast Packing Company (www.coastpacking.com), a closely held corporation, is the number one supplier of animal fat shortenings – particularly lard and beef tallow — in the Western United States.  The company sells to major manufacturers, CPG companies, QSR and fast-food restaurant chains, broadline food service distributors, retailers, smaller food service operations, and leading bakeries.  The company participates actively in diverse ethnic markets – from Hispanic retail chains, with its VIVA® brand, to various Asian specialty markets.  Based in Vernon, Calif., Coast Packing Company is regional, national and, increasingly, global.  In some cases, relationships are multigenerational, extending back 50 years and more.  Coast is a founding member of the Healthy Fats Coalition (http://www.healthyfatscoalition.org/).

For more information about Coast Packing Company, visit: www.coastpacking.com. Follow us via social media on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coastpackingco, Twitter @coastpackingco and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/coastpackingco.

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