They hit it with delicious sweet soroletos

Seven years have passed since then Gilberto Luna Dare to do the recipe Sweet sorollo Prepared by her mother-in-law, María Antonia Rivera, who never failed to fry delicious appetizers at every family celebration.

To test the product's acceptance, the man from Ibonito rolled up his sleeves and helped his mother-in-law, Wanda Alvarado, prepare the much-anticipated formula, which the man gave to his friends and co-workers while on the job. Christmas time.

And so it began to develop Handmade Mama Tonya Surolitosa brand that has been so successful that it is now part of the inventory of some 80 supermarkets and about 150 restaurants throughout the island.

Work began on November 2016when Luna retired after working for 30 years at a cooperative in Ibonito where he served as an officer and “vice president in charge of operation.”

“The recipe has always been in my wife's family for decades. With this recipe, my mother-in-law would make sorrelitos every time there was a family activity, for Christmas, Mother's Day, etc. I loved the sorrelitos,” the 60-year-old said. “I always had a business vision with Sorelitos, but I had a permanent job at the cooperative.”

“However, I took a leave of absence Christmas I told my mother-in-law to prepare me, and I helped her prepare the batch of sorlitos, which consisted of about 220 (units). “I went to the supermarket and bought packages and put between 12 and 24 sourulettes for visiting work colleagues, some of whom became friends and I gave them to them for Christmas,” he recalls.

Thus, the Iponitino was introducing the product little by little, and “out of every 10 people who tried it, the acceptance was 9.5 because they were sweet sorrolo.”

His first factory was in his parents' house in Los Llanos neighborhoodBut then one of his friends wanted to give him a job in his company.

“At the request of an entrepreneur friend, William Santiago of Latin Shots, I prepared a business plan for his company, and while I was developing the business plan for them, I was thinking about my own sorolo business,” he admitted. “Balsurolo.”

“So, I went up in the morning and told him the business plan I had been working on was to start my own business. He said, ‘Count on me that wherever I go and wherever I can, we will be together.’ And that’s what he did,” he said.

To his surprise, Santiago I got the lease To produce its products in ancient PEbonite artificial bow “And he subcontracted with me so I could have my factory where his factory was. In fact, Predco (The Industrial Development Company) approved the contract.”

From there it is manufactured 20,000 soroletos per day.

“The company is dedicated to making sweet corn sorullitos. In principle, this dough was completely handmade and artisanal, and the dough was made by hand as was the case with sorulitos. Each of the sorullitos that are made here passes through at least three hands before it reaches your home,” he explained. There is still a lot of craftsmanship in it.

“With the same sorllitos dough we make other products that are also made for the same purpose. They are small sorullo, about an ounce, in a slightly different shape than traditional sorllitos. Our dough is different because it is toasted on the outside, but creamy on the inside.”

In addition to sweet sorlitos, other artisanal products are made on site, in the process creating 11 jobs.

'We make balls filled with cheddar cheese, we also make balls filled with hazelnut cream and chocolate, we also make a ball filled with cream cheese, red sauce and jalapeno; “It's a combination of sweet and spicy.”

“Sometimes we make little coconut-flavored candies, and we always do ChristmasMake some balls filled with cream cheese and guava paste; It's the traditional thing you put on pastry, but the dough is made from sorrelitos. We are thinking about doing other related things in the future, because our dough goes with everything,” he explained.

Meanwhile, he noted that regular sorillitos come in packages From 12, 24 and 48 units. While the cheese balls, as well as those filled with cream cheese, red sauce and jalapenos, are sold in boxes of 15 units.

“The large sorrolo stuffed with cheese, which is what they put in the display cabinets, we introduce gradually. “We started in different storefronts and supermarkets to see what people's acceptance was like, before we started mass producing it and the acceptance was unbelievable.”

It should be noted that the shape of each product is different so that the diner can distinguish it.

“There's a ball that's completely round, with hazelnuts and chocolate in it. We have another one that looks like a drop of water, and one has cheddar cheese, and one has two ends.”

Jalapeno. He explained that when they are fried and put together on a tray, you know what they are filled with because of the shape of the product.

Although about 20,000 soroliths are produced daily, “as it comes, so it goes.”

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