On a mission with Mission!

Shelly Luthi, my photography partner, and I were on a mission with Mission today. The plant manager, Javier Baires, of Mission Foods generously gave his time to take us on a tour of the plant which produces nachos, flour and corn tortillas. The plant which is located in Fife employs about 200 people and their facility produces about 3 million products a week!

This is one of the last things I thought I would be doing in December 2012, but because Shelly and I were hired to photograph the employee holiday party last week held at the Murano Hotel in Tacoma, Javier offered to give us a tour of the plant.

Dressed in our finest safety wear, right down to steel toed shoe covers and ear plugs, we got to taste fresh, hot products right off the line - and come home with some too! Shelly lost her shoe covers more than once, so we both ended up shuffling our way around the plant to make sure they stayed on. We were a sight to behold, I'm sure.

The emphasis in the plant is not only on safety, but quality. Mission products may cost a little more, but they're worth it. Shelly, who I also refer to as "Martha Stewart" wouldn't use any other products. In fact, Scott and I'll be the lucky people tasting her mouth watering mexican dishes next week. She took one look into my refrigerator when we got home and offered to cook for us. How could I say no. :-) Scott is ever so grateful he'll get a decent meal from someone who doesn't have a camera in one hand and a can opener in the other.

I was truly impressed by Javier's management style. He had a pat on the back for the men operating the huge dough making and production equipment, and words of praise for the women sorting and packing the products. It's obvious he knows his employees on a first name basis and truly cares about them. The holiday party was another example of that and we're looking forward to photographing their next employee recognition event at the September Puyallup Fair. www.BonnieKingPhotography.com