bake - November 2017 - 36

the rapid rise of

hispanic bakeries
Their stories share common themes: a love for
family and commitment to authenticity.
Not unlike many young Hispanic bakers, Jose Flores

laborers would pick strawberries or lettuce all day

Jr. started baking in the family business at an early

long for dollars. Their dreams were not for sale,

age. At 12 years old, he began to learn how to roll and

though. Norma and Jose Flores Sr. saved their money

shape smooth dough pieces on the workbench, using

wisely and imagined someday opening a bakery, like

his palms to push the dough forward and ﬁngers to

the ones Norma Flores grew up loving as a child in

pull it back, in a continuous motion to form consis-

Guanajuato in central Mexico or Jose Sr. knew as a

tently sized pieces of dough that will be ready for

young boy at his home in Michoacán.

baking in the oven.
"Where my mom is from they thrive on making really
Now in his mid-20s, Jose Flores Jr. reﬂects on the hard

good bread," Jose Jr. says. "We honor those baking

work that led him to where he is today, and he beams

traditions here today. We know where we came from. It

with pride. No regrets. Yes, he could have played sports

has paid off in so many ways." His young son, Jose, and

more often with his friends, listened to music for count-

young daughter, Noelie, are excited every time they visit

less hours in his room, or done any of the common

the bakery. His son immediately runs to the workbench

things that teenagers do to pass time. Instead, he

in the backroom to roll bolillo dough. His daughter loves

worked. He learned the value of waking up at 3 a.m. to

to decorate the cakes in icing. They want to grow up to

go to work every day, year after year, to hone an honor-

be bakers and cake decorators, just like their family.

dren. You can see immense joy in his eyes as he looks

There are a dozen stories like this one in any city in

upon the full display cases of freshly baked conchas,

America. Hispanic entrepreneurs are hard at work,

bolillos and dozens of different shapes of pan dulce at

turning dreams into reality in every corner of the

his family's business El Pueblo Bakery in Reno, Nevada.

country. A new Geoscape report reveals that Hispanic

These are the fruits of his labor.

immigrants are more likely to be entrepreneurs than the
average member of the US population overall.

"We used to work in the ﬁelds in California picking
fruits and vegetables, and it was very hard for us,"

Based on Geoscape projections in its 2016 annual

says his mother, Norma Flores, who owns El Pueblo

report, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew

Bakery with her husband Jose Flores Sr. Jose Jr.,

to more than 4.2 million, representing an impressive

too, remembers what it was like living four fami-

growth rate of 27.5 percent since 2012. The ﬁgure is

lies per house in Salinas, California, where the farm

more than double the growth rate for all US ﬁrms.

36 < NOV 2017 | bakemag.com

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