Monterey Gourmet Foods Inc. is a company that produces more than 250 different fresh gourmet food products for the premium food market. Founded in 1989, they began as the Monterey Pasta Company, starting out in a 400-square-foot storefront on Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey, California.
Their beginnings saw them as producers of small quantities of gourmet pastas and sauces, which they made using food processors and hand-operated pasta makers. They in turn sold these products to local grocery stores and restaurants in their area. Monterey Gourmet Foods now distributes their products in more than 10,200 retail and club stores throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.
The company makes their fresh refrigerated gourmet food products at facilities in Salinas, (Monterey County) California; Eugene, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington. They manufacture new product lines continually along with their core brand of pastas and sauces. Some of their product offerings include gourmet refrigerated entrees such as seafood lasagna and pasta primavera; grilled wrap sandwiches and burritos; whole wheat pastas, and Isabella’s Kitchen Tamales.
National distribution of Monterey’s products is through over 10,000 retail and club stores such as Safeway, Raley’s, Albertson’s, Kroger, Costco, and Sam’s Club. The company’s products are also in specialty food stores in the United States. They also market Casual Gourmet Foods, which have a complete line of low-fat, poultry-based sausages. Their CIBO Naturals is an all-natural, specialty food company that makes ready-to-eat pestos, soft-flavored cheese spreads, dips, toppings, and refrigerated pastas for the retail, foodservice and club store channels. Monterey Gourmet Foods Inc. also owns Emerald Valley Kitchen, based in Eugene, Oregon, which produces certified organic, all-natural fresh salsa, dips, and hummus. Monterey acquired Sonoma Foods in April of 2005, a manufacturer of traditional and flavored jack cheeses.
With continued product innovation, Monterey Gourmet Foods Inc. is still noodling around with pastas while branching out into other categories. They see the marketplace as ever-changing and know they must stay up-to-speed with new product offerings for their customers. Monterey Gourmet Foods Inc. is working to please the palates of their customers and shareholders alike with their unique gourmet lineup.
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