The Story Behind Masafina’s Mexican Ingredients

Most “authentic Mexican” food that’s made in Britain isn’t authentic at all. It’s a supermarket approximation built for shelf life, not for flavour.

Masafina started because two people who knew the real thing couldn’t find it in the UK, so they decided to make it themselves, the way it’s made in Mexico and with family heritage and traditions that can’t be replicated.

This is the story of how Masafina went from a small flat in West London to its own mill in North Acton, and why the ingredients produced there taste different from anything else you’ll find on the UK market.

It started with a craving and a problem

Andrea was born in Mexico City. An art historian and journalist by training, with degrees from Barcelona and the Sorbonne, she grew up in a home where food was the centre of family life, surrounded by talented women cooking the regional dishes of Mexico. For Andrea, the kitchen was never just a place to cook, it was where stories were shared, recipes passed down, and a whole heritage kept alive.

When Andrea met Laura on a trip to Mexico and later moved to the UK to be with her, she hit the same wall every Mexican expat in Britain knows: you simply cannot find good Mexican ingredients. The salsas, the corn, the chillies, the masa, the things that make Mexican food taste like Mexican food, weren’t on any shelf.

So rather than settle for substitutes, they set upon the journey of making their own from scratch.

Why the right ingredients are so hard to find

Real Mexican cooking depends on ingredients that don’t travel well through industrial supply chains. Take corn for example, most tortillas in the UK are made from generic, mass-processed maize flour whereas traditional Mexican tortillas use heirloom corn that has been through nixtamalization, an ancient process of cooking and soaking the kernels in an alkaline solution.

Nixtamalization isn’t a detail. It’s the step that breaks down the tough outer layer of the kernel, unlocks the nutrients, and gives masa its flavour and aroma. Skip it, as most commercial producers do, and you get something that looks like a tortilla but tastes like cardboard.

Masafina’s name itself comes from this: “masa fina” i.e fine masa, the dough at the heart of everything.

The same goes for salsas. A proper salsa roja or salsa verde is built on specific regional chillies and traditional techniques, not a tomato base dialled down for mild British palates. These are the things that can’t be faked, and the things that were missing.

The journey that built the supply chain

Laura brought the other half of the equation. As former Product Director at Mediterranean ingredient company Belazu, she had spent years developing prize-winning products used by some of the best chefs in the UK, and understood new product development and the food service channel inside out. Andrea had the culinary heritage and Laura had the industry knowledge to turn it into a real business.

So they quit their jobs and travelled through Mexico, region by region, to find their suppliers and learn the techniques at the source:

• Mexico City for the inspiration behind their salsas
• Teotihuacán to source heirloom corn
• Guadalajara for tequila and birria
• Oaxaca for mezcal and tlayudas
• Yucatán for more heirloom corn
• Sonora to perfect their wheat flour tortilla recipe

Some of those stops were research. Some, by their own admission, were just for the tequila! But the result was a supply chain rooted in specific regions of Mexico, sourcing the actual varieties and methods that give each ingredient its character.

Made in Mexico’s tradition, made in London

What began in a small West London flat, their first unofficial headquarters, has grown into Masafina’s own factory in North Acton. The corn still comes from Mexico, the techniques are still the traditional ones learned on that journey, but the ingredients are now made fresh, here, and supplied to restaurants across the UK.

That combination is the whole point: Andrea’s culinary heritage and Laura’s industry expertise, producing ingredients that genuinely reflect the regional flavours of Mexico rather than a watered-down version of them. Fresh, sustainable, nutritious, and made the right way.

As they put it: they’ll bring the best possible taste of Mexico from their little mill to your table.

Taste the difference for yourself

The reason Masafina exists is simple. The real flavours of Mexico were missing from British kitchens, so two people who knew them well decided to bring them here properly, with no shortcuts. If you’ve ever tasted authentic Mexican food and found everything in the UK falls short, this is the difference you’ve been looking for.

Explore the Masafina range, or if you run a restaurant, deli or food business, get in touch about trade supply here.