Despite having no farming background, Greg Gitto held a long-time desire to farm. After working as an electrician for more than 20 years, the Menomonee Falls native decided he had had enough of the hustle and bustle of city life, so in 1995, he and his family moved to the Black River Falls, Wis. area and began their farming venture, eventually leading to Gitto Farm n Kitchen and their tasty tortillas.
Gitto worked on a dairy farm in Hixton, Wis., near Black River Falls. In 2000, he had the opportunity to rent those farm buildings, and he bought his own cows. Gitto later operated on rented land near Richland Center, Wis., and in 2006, he and his wife, Carol, bought 80 acres of farmland nestled between Watertown and Lake Mills. Most of the land is pasture for their cows. Until last season, Gitto also grew certified organic vegetables on 10 acres dedicated to produce.
Crafting tortillas came at the suggestion of a friend. “My friend, John, who lives in Toronto, said he was making these tortillas and selling them at farmers markets near him, and he suggested that I do that, too. I asked him, ‘When are we going to have time for this? We milk cows, which is a full-time job, and we grow vegetables, which is another full-time job,” Gitto recalled, “but we got some equipment from him and rented a little kitchen in Lake Mills to make tortillas, and it kind of took off.”
Gitto has been making tortillas since 2011. They introduced them at Madison farmers markets, but Gitto also sought exposure in Milwaukee. He approached Anne Vedder, a buyer for Outpost Natural Foods, with his idea to get the tortillas into the store. Having a reputation as a launch pad for local artisan food entrepreneurs, Outpost helped Gitto with product aspects like labels and compiling nutritional information. “If Outpost is the teacher, we’re the teacher’s pet. They helped us out so much,” Gitto said of the co-op.
Gitto Farm n Kitchen’s light, flavorful flour tortillas, made from hard red winter wheat, hold up well even when packed with the heartiest fillings. Gitto now has a 2,000-square-foot licensed production facility on their property. Because of today’s large demand for gluten-free products, Gitto hopes to eventually add corn tortillas to their line, and possibly corn chips. The tortillas are available at locations including Outpost, Metcalfe’s, Good Harvest Market, Sentry in Delafield and Basics Cooperative Natural Foods in Janesville.
Thanks to word of mouth, and smaller retailers throughout southeast and northeast Wisconsin picking up Gitto’s tortillas to carry in their stores, the product has become popular. Although Gitto may have been skeptical of his Canadian friend’s suggestion of adding tortillas to their offerings, Gitto is satisfied with his decision to diversify his business, especially with recent plummeting milk prices. Gitto stopped growing vegetables for purchase last season to focus more on the tortillas, but five of his 10 children still help him and Carol on the farm. Their daughter, who sold Gitto’s vegetables at the Oconomowoc Summer Farmers Market, is now married, and her husband wants to work on the farm, so Gitto said they have resumed growing vegetables for purchase on a smaller scale.
For more information, visit gittofarm.com.
