Amy’s Kitchen History And Growth Journey
Headquartered in Petaluma, California, Amy’s Kitchen is a highly recognized American manufacturer and distributor of organic and non-GMO frozen and convenience foods. It is family-owned and operated, founded by Andy Berliner and his wife, Rachel Berliner.
The couple thought of making their recipes and meals after Rachel experienced difficulties in her pregnancy, resulting in bed rest. Andy wanted to get her ready organic food, but none of the local stores had anything their taste buds fancied.
One of the most significant contributors to their success is their past organic food business experience. Rachel’s family grew and heavily advocated for organic fruits and vegetables since the 1950s. On the other hand, Andy was a majority shareholder and the president of Magic Mountain, a herb tea company.
After founding their business, they named it Amy’s Kitchen, after Amy, their daughter. The first meal on their menu was a vegetable pot pie, which they prepared using Amy’s grandmother’s recipe.
They started operating a booth at a nearby natural products exhibition, which saw them receive numerous orders from small natural grocers. Their first employees were mainly family members, including Andy and Rachel. The increasing demand saw them open their first production location in Sonoma County, California. They also invested in other bigger farms.
Amy’s Kitchen currently has over 2,700 employees and other production facilities in Medford, Oregon; Santa Rosa, California; Pocatello, Idaho; San Jose, California; and Goshen, New York.
They have also expanded their menu, offering over 250 vegetarian foods made using organic ingredients. They have diversified their categories, and clients can find foods free of gluten, dairy, tree nuts, corn, lactose, and soy. They also have vegan, low-in-calcium, Kosher D, and Kosher DE foods.
They also have a diverse menu containing numerous soups, wraps, pizzas, burritos, bowls, candy, chili, mac and cheese, burgers, etc. One thing that separates them from similar brands is that they make everything by hand. That helps minimize the amount of additives they use and helps preserve their ingredients’ natural flavors and aromas.
To make it easier for people to access their food, they opened the first drive-thru restaurant in July 2015 in Rohnert Park, California. They have other drive-thru locations in San Francisco International Airport, Corte Madera, Roseville, ad Thousand Oaks.