USA: an Italian company sets up in Georgia

14/10/2020

François-Xavier Branthôme

Italy,

North America

La Regina Atlantica to open first U.S. processing facility for famous tomato sauce in Bacon County (Georgia)

Governor Brian Kemp announced that La Regina Atlantica, a U.S. subsidiary of Italian producer of homemade pasta sauces La Regina di San Marzano, will invest USD20 million in a new food processing facility in Alma, Bacon County, Georgia. La Regina Atlantica will source carrots, peppers, basil, onions, and meats from farmers locally. But the company’s freshly grown tomatoes will be imported from Italy through the Port of Savannah, where they will then be transported to Alma to be processed into the brand’s world-famous sauces.

Headquartered in San Marzano, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, Italy, La Regina di San Marzano is a canned-peeled tomato and sauce manufacturing facility that has been operating for forty years following three elements: passion, tradition, and family.

“Georgia feels like the perfect place,” said Felice Romano, president of La Regina. “The large agricultural environment in Bacon County is so similar to what we have here in San Marzano. It ensures we have access to vast supplies of all the raw materials we need to pack the sauce, and we believe our business will do wonderfully there. Then, there’s so much room for expansion – literally and figuratively – in Alma, not to mention the close proximity to the third-largest port in the U.S., the Port of Savannah. It gives us both full access to the East Coast and the possibility to get the incoming shipments of our canned tomatoes from Italy".

Fully dedicated to North America, where its consumer recognizes and appreciates a traditional Italian product tailored and adjusted to their taste, the company opened their Manhattan-based subsidiary La Regina di San Marzano USA in 2013.

“We are excited to welcome La Regina into our community,” said Kevin Ellis, executive director of the Bacon County Development Authority. “Food production is at the heart of our local economy. From small businesses creating value-added products to large industries shipping fresh and frozen fruits, vegetables, and meats by the truckload, a large percentage of our workforce has been introduced to the culture of food safety. La Regina’s core values of passion, tradition, and family will resonate with the people of Bacon County. "