Award-winning tortilla makers reveal evolving identity of long-running KCK sister brand

Four years after quietly taking over the locally-made line of Art’s Mexican Products, Marissa and Mark Gencarelli hope the change went unnoticed by even the most faithful fans of the brand’s fresh nixtamalized masa, tortillas, chips, and sauces.

“We’ve made tweaks, but the core products remain the same, with no change in the recipe, no short cuts in the ingredients or techniques,” said Marissa Tapia Gencarelli, part of the James Beard Award winning duo behind Yoli Tortilleria and Yoli Westside.

Now, however, the Gencarellis are scaling up operations and giving the beloved, family-run Kansas City, Kansas, business a new look and branding. Its new name, Art’s Molino & Market, is a nod to the more than 30,000 pounds of corn per week milled at the original factory located at 615 Kansas Ave. where Art’s products continue to be made today, Gencarelli said.

“There is great emotional attachment to the brand,” she added. “We have been blown away to hear from customers who started coming in as young children and often return as adults. They remember the freshness and their word-of-mouth recommendations have allowed this brand to flourish for so long.”

The latest distribution expansion puts Art’s in 53 Whole Foods Markets with colorful new graphics by local graphic artist Frank Norton helping to make Art’s products easier to spot on store shelves, Gencarelli said.

Restaurant style chips from Art's Molino & Market

Enchilada sauce from Art's Molino & Market

The brand’s retail line includes such staples as corn tortillas, corn chips, a signature enchilada sauce for classic Kansas City cheese enchiladas and hot and mild taco sauces. 

Favorites like Art’s Restaurant-Style Chips — served at such local hotspots as Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant and Jalapeños Mexican Restaurant — are now available in grocery stores or online as the brand continues to expand into regional supermarkets, including McKeever’s Market & Eatery, Hy-Vee, Payless Discount Foods, Price Chopper, Sun Fresh Market and Hen House Market.

Rachael Gutierrez Kelley stands with Marissa Tapia Gencarelli and Mark Gencarelli in 2022 outside Art’s Mexican Products factory at 615 Kansas Ave.; courtesy photo

Established in 1961 by Arthur and Angela Gutierrez, the original Art’s Mexican Products grew as the home-cooked-to-wholesale business was taken over by their son and daughter, Rachael Gutierrez Kelley, who joined the family business full-time in the 1980s.

In her late 70s, with no family members interested in continuing the business, Kelley turned in 2022 to the Gencarellis in hopes they could carry on the brand’s Kansas City legacy. 

“The business was in alignment with our values, and it was very important to her that it went from a woman to a woman,” said Marissa Gencarelli.

Corn tortillas from Art’s Molino & Market

The transition has been smooth, she said, in large part because of the decades-long development of Art’s nixtamalization process — the ancient technique of soaking dried corn in water mixed with calcium lime to break down the tough outer hull of the kernel to increase the bioavailability of calcium, iron and protein — combined with the simplicity of the brand’s basic formula.

Only three ingredients are used to make Art’s tortillas: corn, water and lime. The tortillas, sauces and chips also are gluten, dairy, nut and preservative free. 

Every package of tortillas is marked with a sell-by date of two weeks. The tortillas can be refrigerated or frozen until ready to use. Chips are best used within four months of the sell-by date. Unopened sauces have a two-year shelf life; once opened use within three weeks.

Daily operations at the factory outlet remain pretty much the same, Gencarelli said, noting the retail space at 615 Kansas Ave. remains open to the public and a critical part of the brand’s evolving identity.

“We’re proud to honor the past by telling the story and inviting a new generation to the table,” she said. “Whether customers visit the factory, grocery stores or shop online, we’re eager to introduce the Art’s brand to the next generation looking for modern meal solutions with the familiar Mexican flavors Kansas Citians crave.”