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Bay Area Costcos started selling ‘s chile relleno tamales in late October as part of a limited-time offer, said Tucson Tamale owners Sherry and Todd Martin.

“They’ll only be in Costco for probably 12 weeks or until supplies run out,� Sherry Martin said.

Tucson Tamale shipped three semitruck loads of tamales — 24,000 eight-count packages — to Costco’s Bay Area region, which includes locations throughout Northern California and Reno, Nevada.

That’s 193,000 tamales.

The deal came after Tucson Tamale had pitched Costco for almost two years on several of its tamales, which are sold in Whole Foods and Sprouts markets throughout the country.

In January, a Costco buyer in the Bay Area reached out about the chile relleno tamale, which Tucson Tamale had discontinued several years ago. The tamale, based on a recipe from Sherry Martin’s mother, had gotten some national love from Food TV personality Alton Brown.

Brown had gushed about the tamale in a 2015 about the restaurants he had experienced when he was touring, including a stop in Tucson.

“I stood 20 minutes in line to get two tamales and I would have spent 20 minutes to get another two,� he told the paper.

Then in July, Brown included Tucson Tamale Company in his list of his in America in an interview with the foodie website . The Martins initially thought that mention might have been what put the chile relleno tamale on Costco’s radar, but the buyer said no, that they had gotten customer requests.

Sherry Martin said the inspiration for the chile relleno tamale came from her late mother, who would offer to make a special dinner for family members on their birthdays.

Everybody requested her chile relleno.

“She made the best,� Sherry Martin recalled. “I mean, we filmed it but we can’t replicate it. It was magic.�

“Typically a chile relleno is really bread heavy, right? It’s less about the chile and more about the batter,� she explained. “My mother made it about the chile.�

In the tamale, the chile is also prominently featured, said Todd Martin.

“In addition to the Hatch chiles, we also added some sweet red pepper chiles,� he said. “They’re not sweet, sweet; they’re just not fiery, and so that really brought the chile relleno flavor profile into a tamale.�

Todd Martin said it took nine days to fill the Costco contract from their South Tucson factory, where workers hand-rolled the tamales in early October.

Last week, the couple flew to the Bay Area with plans to visit as many Costco locations as they could over three days.

“Obviously, we’re very excited,� Sherry Martin said. “We’re gonna have it on our social media for us to be able to see it on the shelves.�

Todd Martin said he has been in talks with other Costco buyers around the country, including Seattle, Chicago and the San Diego district that includes Arizona.

“We’re feeling pretty OK,� he said. “Better than OK.�

The Martins launched Tucson Tamale from a 1,200-square-foot storefront on East Broadway in 2008. They now have one restaurant at 7286 N. Oracle Road and a 14,000-square-foot USDA manufacturing facility in South Tucson, where they make millions of tamales a year.