Land Sale Likely To Bring Jobs To Vallejo

Land Sale Likely To Bring Jobs To Vallejo
Frozen Food Company Plans To Open Plant On Benicia Road Parcel
By RACHEL RASKIN-ZRIHEN/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 03/21/2008

A new manufacturing operation that promises to be among Vallejo's largest private employers, should be operational by summer, the firm's owner said Thursday.

A deal on the company's new Benicia Road property closed last week, said Mike Ghiringhelli co-owner of Ghiringhelli Specialty Foods.

The firm makes fresh and frozen foods like salads and pizza for retail stores like Costco and Trader Joe's, he said. It manufactures the Mr. G's Fine Products, a line of frozen pizzas, potatoes and sauces and mostly private-label fresh foods which it distributes to more than 5,000 retail stores nationwide, according to the company's Web site.

"We're going to build a new food manufacturing plant," Ghiringhelli said. "We just closed the deal on the property and the city has given its approval to build."

When it's done, the site, at 101 Benicia Road will include 40,000 square feet of space and incorporate two existing warehouses and a second level that will be added, Ghiringhelli said.

The operation should be up and running by August, he said.

"I grew up in a restaurant family in the 1960s and '70s and (partner) Eddy (Ferrero) and I started a pizza place in Fairfax 22 years ago," Ghiringhelli said. "We both decided to expand out to other areas of food to do business in."

Ghiringhelli, 50, a Fairfax resident, and Ferrero, 44, of Vallejo, started doing pizza fundraisers for schools, Ghiringhelli said. That operation grew into one that supplies food to retail outlets, he said.

This is the company's third move, Ghiringhelli said.

Ghiringhelli Pizza started in Fairfax with 2,000 square feet, where it operated for 18 years, he said. The pizza restaurant remains, but the plant moved to San Pablo where it's been for nearly a decade. The move to Vallejo will allow the company to further expand, Ghiringhelli said.

"We're glad we're coming to Vallejo," he said. "We looked all over the Bay Area and even as far as Stockton, and we feel this space is perfect for our needs. The city was nice to work with. They were very accommodating and professional."

Vallejo community development analyst Annette Taylor said the city's been dealing with Ghiringhelli "for a while," and officials are pleased that things worked out.

"It's exciting they're coming to that location, bringing employment," she said. "That site is a vacant moving and storage facility, so this is a great re-use for the facility, and it's great they're bringing manufacturing to Vallejo."

The company expects to create about 120 jobs, making it among the city's top 10 private employers, according to Vallejo Chamber of Commerce information.

The types of jobs to be created by Ghiringhelli include those in production, warehouse, trucking, office, maintenance and sales, the firm's owner said.

"There will be a variety of jobs we'll need help with," he said.

• E-mail Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at RachelZ@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6824.