Giuliano Specialty Foods, Garden Grove, had its beginnings in 1959 when father and son loaded up the family’s stake-bed truck with high-quality Italian products and went door-to-door selling them to Italian delis throughout Southern California.
Their products at that time were acquired from vegetable farmers in the area, as well as imported in bulk from international briners and completed in their hand-packed operation.
Today, their facility is semi-to-fully automated and they have a staff of 25-to-30 employees depending on the time of year.
Giuliano Specialty Foods, Garden Grove, had its beginnings in 1959 when father and son loaded up the family’s stake-bed truck with high-quality Italian products and went door-to-door selling them to Italian delis throughout Southern California.
Their products at that time were acquired from vegetable farmers in the area, as well as imported in bulk from international briners and completed in their hand-packed operation.
Today, their facility is semi-to-fully automated and they have a staff of 25-to-30 employees depending on the time of year.
What better time to feature them than days after “Small Business Saturday,” which occurred a day after the highly-touted Black Friday?
Errol Giuliano grew up helping his father, Connie Giuliano, and the business has continued to grow for more than five decades since those early days, with the third-generation of Giuliano members now helping to run the business.
“It’s still just the Giuliano’s giving customers the absolute best quality and service available anywhere, because for us, it’s family,” Errol Giuliano said.
Located in Garden Grove since 1986, Giuliano’s manufactures a variety of pickled peppers, vegetables and olives in its state-of-the-art facility.
The family is proud of its fine products and the superior quality it offers right down to the olives that are hand-stuffed right here in California.
“We use only the finest raw materials from around the world and we produce every item in our line,” Errol said.
In the beginning, in 1959, Giuliano’s was located in the north Torrance area with peppers and olives it had grown from there.
At first, the business was strong in institutional sales, which included restaurant wholesalers, and then they expanded into the retail business and now have retail markets from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United States.
Asked how the current economy has affected their business, Errol Giuliano said that the cost of raw materials has gone up and they are not able to pass those costs on as quickly as they would like, but that through expanding their sales in new market areas and an increased line of products, that has helped them.
Asked how the Obama health care plan has affected his company, he said: “Since Obama has talked about his plan, insurance rates have gone up substantially and every year they have continued to go up for the insurance I provide for my employees – and now that Obama has implemented his health care plan, the rates have gotten worse.”
How will he deal with it?
“I do what I can with what is handed to me and make the best of it.”
For information about Giuliano Gourmet Foods, visit GiulianoPeppers.com or call 714-895-9661.
