Pierino Frozen Foods Inc. is looking to expand its reach to compete on a national level and develop private-label pasta products for small to midsized restaurant chains.

After years of traveling as a chef in the Italian army, Pierino Frozen Foods Inc. founder Pierino Guglielmetti came to America armed with the desire to put his talent to good use by producing authentic Italian ravioli for restaurants throughout the Detroit area. With a degree from the Enalc Institute in Calabria, Italy, Guglielmetti had the training and expertise to create authentic dishes, often developed specifically for each client, says his son Vice President Gianni Guglielmetti.

Developing pasta from scratch, the founder started out by creating authentic ravioli for smaller restaurant chains in the area. “In the beginning, after my father found a need in the industry for fully-cooked raviolis, he started making them in his basement and would go from restaurant to restaurant to see if they needed a product like ours supplied to them,” Guglielmetti says. “Soon after, he was caught by the government for making products in his basement, and was forced to turn it into an official business. He bought a storefront connected to three other units, and turned it into a 6,000-square-foot business. Through the ‘70s and ‘80s, he expanded it into a more than 30,000-square-foot facility.”

Now, with 70 percent of its business focused on developing pasta dishes and sauces for restaurants of various sizes, the remainder of its business is in the retail segment, Guglielmetti says. In both areas of the company, the family’s Italian heritage helps it maintain the authenticity not often found in the United States. “We really focus on creating authentic products,” he explains. “Currently, we have the flexibility to accommodate many smaller restaurant chains with proprietary private-label products, and even larger restaurant chains, which puts us on another level than most other companies out there.

“We’re big enough right now to accommodate our customers, but we’re small enough to have the flexibility to produce customized pasta products to their specifications,” he continues.

This flexibility extends throughout the company as it continues to create customized dishes for restaurants and chains in its region. Its key to successfully producing a variety of high-quality products for customers is the company’s commitment to using only the freshest ingredients. “Most of our competitors will use powdered egg in their products,” Guglielmetti says. “But we make sure that every day, we crack our eggs whole, which makes our dough second to none.”

Guglielmetti believes the company’s emphasis on the dough itself sets it apart from other companies.

“Many companies focus on the filling of the ravioli, but they forget that the shell of the product is just as important,” he explains. “If you use an egg-based dough, it will hold the sauce better and is the freshest way to create the product. For years, that key ingredient has been our claim to fame, and we have been recognized for that since the day my dad first pioneered precooked ravioli.”

Evolving Trends
Although Guglielmetti admits it is important to stay current with trends and patterns in eating, he says the company will adapt only if the product does not lose any flavor or quality elements. “We will always stay focused on producing real pasta,” he says.

After experimenting with low-carbohydrate angel-hair pasta, the company quickly dismissed the idea, because “it tasted like cardboard,” he says.

“I grew up on real pasta, and so did my family, so that’s what we’re always going to produce,” he emphasizes.

But as consumer trends continue to evolve, the company will capitalize on the opportunity to create premium dishes using unique ingredients not often used in traditional pasta. Pierino has recently started creating dishes such as “portobello mushroom ravioli and lobster ravioli, which is becoming more and more popular,” Guglielmetti asserts.

Culture of Authenticity
As a family owned operation, the company emphasizes the importance of allowing its employees to take ownership in the success of the company. To promote this idea, the company offers a lunch buffet for its employees, featuring all the dishes it produced that day, he adds.

As a result of its commitment to ensure its employees remain satisfied, Guglielmetti says, the company enjoys a fairly low turnover rate.

“We have a modern, flexible and easy-to-work-with atmosphere, and we’re literally like a family here,” he says. “Many people have been with the company for more than 10 years.”

Although the company plans to remain in the family, it is currently looking for expansion opportunities, namely, in the Chicago area. “I’d like to see the company position itself closer to a national company with distribution points beyond where we are right now,” he says. “In the near future, I would like to see us develop our presence in the downtown Chicago area, which is our main focus right now.”

To continue its geographic growth, it hopes to increase its production capabilities, Guglielmetti explains. “Currently, we’re producing 80,000 pounds per week of pasta, with a capacity of about 200,000 pounds,” he says. “There is definitely still room for growth.”  FAD