USA: DelGrosso Foods marks grand opening of new sauce plant

23/06/2023

François-Xavier Branthôme

USA,

North America

DelGrosso Foods Inc., America’s oldest major family-owned producer of pasta sauce, celebrates the grand opening of a new food processing plant located at 198 Kristel Lane, Altoona (Pennsylvania, 140 km (90 miles) east of Pittsburgh); the new facility will double the company’s previous capacity and allow for the production of new food products. Since purchasing the 166,000-square-foot (15,400 m²) building four years ago, the site has been a hive of activity that began with gutting, refitting, and eventually installing state-of-the-art sauce making equipment.

The new plant brings capabilities to produce new products outside the company’s traditional tomato-based offerings. The installation of six large “retort” machines, which act as pressure vessels to ensure product stability and safety, will allow DelGrosso Foods to pack Alfredo sauces, cheese dips, and other items for a number of different brands and retailers. While the company built its name on the original DelGrosso pasta sauce brand starting in 1947, the largest component of the company’s recent growth has come from contract packing. DelGrosso produces over 300 stock and custom formulas for dozens of “private label” customers, which include major grocery chains and several national pasta sauce and salsa brands.

The new $60 Million+ facility will employ an additional fifty people and will operate in parallel with the “red sauce” plant, just five miles away in Tipton. While the company does not disclose the names of its contract packing customers, they represent some of the world’s most respected food companies and grocery chains.

Some complementary data
About DelGrosso Foods, Inc.: DelGrosso Foods, Inc. is the oldest major family-owned producer of pasta sauce in the U.S., tracing its roots to 1914 and an Italian immigrant’s old-world recipe for pasta sauce. Ferdinand and Mafalda DelGrosso formalized the production of the sauce for retail sale beginning in 1947. DelGrosso Foods is still family-owned and operated, and DelGrosso products are still manufactured in central Pennsylvania, where the story began. Their line of ultra-premium pasta sauces, La Famiglia DelGrosso, can now be found at most major grocers across the United States. The family also owns and operates DelGrosso’s Park and Laguna Splash, as well as Marianna’s Fundraisers.

Source: delgrossofoods.com