R E A L I TA L I A N GOODNESS T
here is nothing more Italian than pasta and meatballs enjoyed with friends and family. For nearly 60 years, this has been the beating heart of Rosina Food Products, Inc. (Rosina or RFP), a family-owned company based in upstate New York that is honoring this Italian tradition. “As with many family businesses, you are drawn in by the natural family connection that develops 2 | North America Outlook issue 08
We speak to the executive team at Rosina Food Products, Inc., whose flair for Italian food is thriving in Buffalo, NY Writer: Jack Salter Project Manager: Tom Cullum
within that business,” opens the CEO and President of Rosina, Russell Corigliano, whose father James Corigliano founded the Company in 1963. Russell joined RFP in the mid-1970s together with his brother, Frank Corigliano, shortly before a new, larger facility was purchased to allow the Company to expand into new markets and make its products available across the United States.
ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS, INC. FOOD & DRINK
Following the purchase and renovation of a 90,000 square foot facility in West Seneca in late 2002, together with a select number of strategic acquisitions over the years, RFP’s brands today can be found in supermarkets, wholesale clubs, commissaries, cafeterias and restaurants in North America, and Latin America.
Rosina Food Products Inc., Buffalo, NY
THE ROSINA DIFFERENCE A flexible and innovative frozen speciality food products manufacturer that provides exceptional quality and service, RFP offers a comprehensive portfolio
of frozen meatballs, pastas, pizza toppings and entrées to consumers, operators and even Fortune 500 brands looking for high quality ingredients for their product innovations. Under the Rosina, Celentano, Italian Village and Mama Lucia brands, the Company’s experienced R&D and culinary team is tasked with creating new and innovative products and recipes inspired by Italian cuisine. North America Outlook issue 08 | 3
ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS, INC. FOOD & DRINK
Striving to stay one step ahead of the latest trends, the department is led by Herb Stockschlaeder, Director – R&D and Strategic Channels, a certified research chef and himself a notable culinary expert with a deep understanding of food science as well as processing. In 2018, RFP cut the ribbon on its new 10,000 square foot Customer Focus Center, featuring a stateof-the-art test kitchen and pilot lab to support the Company’s product development efforts. The Center welcomes ingredients and foodservice partners to collaborate as well as experience the Company’s culinary creations first-hand, whilst taking a hands-on approach to
product development. “We have grown into a diversified company that services multiple divisions, including Consumer Packaged Goods, Foodservice, Ingredients, and International,” outlines John Zimmerman, Rosina’s Senior Vice President of Business Development. “We remain committed to having a diversified portfolio of products that satisfy consumers within these divisions and are focused on meeting and exceeding expectations within the industry. “The food industry has been, and continues to be, an exciting space to be a part of, as significant changes and innovations continue to take place,” he adds. RFP’s food science and culinaryNORTH AMERICA trained R&D staff work with OUTLOOK: WHAT ARE customers to create custom recipes YOUR KEY PRIORITIES and develop unique solutions to meet FOR THE COMING their specific needs. YEAR? With an understanding that quality and consistency are critical to “RFP has developed a quality, success, RFP’s choice of ingredients service and price strategy that is what makes the Company different is very simple but painstakingly from the rest. From oven-baked difficult to copy. meatballs made with premium meats “Service means so many things to individually quick frozen (IQF) at RFP; our expertise and levels pasta made from high-quality flour of service when it comes to sales, and eggs, all products are frozen at marketing and the supply chain, we peak freshness to ensure that they are believe are second to none. farm-to-table fresh. The secret ingredient, however, “We are considered by our is what it calls the ‘Rosina customers to be a ‘low Difference’. Offering maintenance supplier’, and the all-important our sales and marketing personal approach teams take pride in that is intrinsic to working with clients the Company’s and building that level family culture, RFP of trust. is passionate about “It is our duty and Frank and exceptional quality responsibility to always Russell Corigliano and service, and goes deliver competitive the extra mile to satisfy pricing. We operate very customers. efficiently at all levels of the “Our team is truly amazing, and organization and those efficiencies uniquely positioned to drive the pass on to our customers.” Rosina Difference to the nth degree,” lauds Russell Corigliano.
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Heat and Control® Heat and Control®, a world-leading equipment manufacturer, is proud to be in partnership with Rosina Food Products. Their family-owned company honoring real Italian goodness, pairs well with Heat and Control’s mission to provide industry leading production line equipment and support. We offer the latest technology and the highest quality equipment for processing, coating and seasoning, conveying, weighing, packaging, and inspection systems and have developed innovative solutions and solved production challenges for many of the world’s largest food manufacturing companies. Our Heat and Control brands include FastBack® (horizontal motion conveyors and on-machine seasoning), Mastermatic (fryers), and Spray Dynamics® (coating and seasoning application systems), and we partner with other global manufacturing leaders, including Ishida (weighing packaging and inspection) and CEIA® (metal detection). We customize all our solutions according to your priorities-from a single machine to several integrated components to a complete system, and we assume singlesource responsibility. We can assist you with equipment for all types of food, pharmaceutical, and non-food products, as well as provide pre- and post-sale technical support, including applications assistance, engineering, installation, parts, service, and training to maintain peak efficiency and achieve your production goals. Established in 1950, we are a privatelyowned family company and have 11 manufacturing facilities, 12 testing centers, and more than 30 offices around the world.
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PROCESS PREPARED FOOD SOLUTIONS • • • • • • •
Helping you bring your best products to market. Delivering Results. With Heat and Control, you have a partner with the scale to support your success, the innovation to advance your operations, and a commitment to quality that will help you offer better products for consumers.
Batter, breading and flavor application Frying and oil management Ovens and dryers/roasters Conveying and product handling Filling and weighing Foreign object and defect inspection Controls and information systems
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We are successful when you are successful. That’s why we apply creativity, engineering excellence, and determined perseverance to every project to help our customers get the performance their business demands—whether measured by flavor, efficiencies, sustainability, improvement, or innovation.
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info@heatandcontrol.com | heatandcontrol.com
20 LOOKING BACK. PRESSING FORWARD. ALWAYS INNOVATING.
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ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS, INC. FOOD & DRINK
“Manners go a long way at RFP, and we have created an environment in which everyone pulls in the same direction, does the right things for the right reasons, feels part of the team, and works to support one another.” To go hand-in-hand with this philosophy, the Company envisages a team of customer engagement specialists, responsible for proactively delivering the Rosina Difference to internal and external customers daily. It comes as RFP was recognized with an Independent Marketing Alliance (IMA) Supplier of the Year award in 2021, as well as numerous other prestigious industry and customer awards, for demonstrating the Rosina Difference by meeting and exceeding the needs of its customers.
DIVERSIFICATION IS KEY Product diversification has proven to be vital in RFP’s ability to maintain and drive growth, even in the volatile
climate of the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the US market, much like the rest of the world, has gone through major upheaval due to COVID-19 in terms of supply chain disruptions and changes to consumer shopping and dining habits. “As the industry goes through rapid transformation, RFP finds itself in a sweet spot in terms of organizational size and approach,” says Greg Setter, Rosina’s Chief Operating Officer. “We are large enough and sophisticated enough to service the largest customers in North America, yet nimble enough to quickly develop products based off data and insights steeped in a deep understanding of our food and beverage; that generally leads to a successful outcome.” In response to the pandemic, RFP moved decisively to launch new products, significantly increased its digital presence, opened new segments and strengthened its focus
Capital Ingredients Corp Capital Ingredients Corp. (C.I.C) was founded with the following mission: import and distribute the best food components efficiently, safely, and responsibly. We are headquartered in Doral, Florida with warehouses spread throughout North America. C.I.C offers a wide range of ingredients and industry solutions such as hydrocolloids, natural fibers, vegetable proteins, gluten-free solutions, sugar replacers, custom blends and more. We are proud to be accredited with IFS Broker and IFS Logistic Standard Certifications, known to guarantee the highest requirements of safety, quality and legal compliance. Discover more on: www.capital-ingredients.com
www.capital-ingredients.com
ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS’ PORTFOLIO – AT A GLANCE MEATBALLS – Delivering superior flavor, texture and color in custom sizes and flavors, including beef, pork, turkey and chicken. IQF FILLED PASTA – Using only the finest ingredients to ensure great taste, pasta products are available in a selection of custom shapes, sizes and fillings. EGGPLANT – As the largest eggplant supplier in North America, no one offers
Mushroom ravioli
more choice than Rosina. PIZZA TOPPINGS – Superior flavor, texture and color in custom sizes and flavors, including beef & pork.
Eggplant
Curried meatball sub
6 | North America Outlook issue 08
ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS, INC. FOOD & DRINK
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North America Outlook issue 08 | 7
ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS, INC. FOOD & DRINK
James Corigliano founded the Rosina company back in 1963
Frank and Russell back in the early days
Today’s Rosina Food Products promotional video
Rosina Food Products’ pasta plant
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on supporting the supply chain. Rosina also opened the doors of its brand new Rosina University in 2020. The university and its courses are designed to onboard its many new associates, develop and support leaders, train associates to have deep understanding of its products, and generally foster the Rosina Difference. As well as integrating new systems and processes such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM), the Company has invested in a new $73 million, 105,000 square foot state-ofthe-art automated protein manufacturing facility, located adjacent to its pasta facility in West Seneca, NY. “With our continued growth and the need for product innovation across all our divisions, we believe that our investment in this facility will set the course for even further expansion,” an upbeat Setter affirms. “Phases two and three of the protein facility are already in the works, and Rosina has also completed multiple stages of a pasta expansion with another phase to be executed in mid-2022, adding even more capabilities to the Company. “Moving forwards in the postpandemic era, we believe the demand for our products will continue to remain strong and that there will be a full resurgence in the food and beverage industry we participate in, with foodservice and entertainment most likely to lead the way.”
BRAND GROWTH RFP has placed major emphasis on the growth of its branded business over the past three years and is making solid progress across all divisions. Respectively, the Celentano and Italian Village brands represent the number one and number four brand of frozen filled pasta in the United States and across Latin America. RFP has recently launched five new frozen filled pastas under the Celentano brand, three of which are key line extensions and two that are based on a new toasted pasta platform that was designed to reach all divisions. “Our line extensions include a Four-Cheese Ravioli developed by our chefs, who created a product that features a delicious blend of cheeses targeted at millennial and Gen-Z shoppers that are looking for more flavorsome, interesting filling combinations,” shares Chris Tirone, Rosina’s Vice-President of Marketing, International and Customer Engagement. “This was followed by Spinach, Roasted Garlic and Cheese Ravioli, Four-Cheese Lasagna Rolls, and most recently our Toasted Cheese and Beef Ravioli’s, which takes us into the snacking food and beverage segment. “These new items are currently being rolled out across North America and are expected to penetrate Latin American markets in late 2022 and into 2023.” Meanwhile, Rosina has emerged as
“ W E R E M A I N C O M M I T T E D T O H AV I N G A DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO OF PRODUCTS T H AT S AT I S F Y C O N S U M E R S ” – JOHN ZIMMERMAN, SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
the second-leading meatball brand in the US over the past four years. Rosina produces a wide variety of meatballs, including a traditional Italian Style meatball range, as well as classics like Swedish and Angus. Most recently Rosina has a created a new range of breakfast-flavored meatballs such as Western Omelette and Bacon, Egg and Cheese also designed to cut across multiple channels and into such segments as C-Store and National Account Chains where easy prep is required. To complement the Rosina brand, RFP has also seized the opportunity to acquire and drive another brand of meatballs in the market. “Mama Lucia rolled out of Rosina’s new manufacturing facility in late 2021 and currently has high penetration in the markets that RFP was looking for expansion in,” says Frank Corigliano, Executive Vice-President and
Co-Owner of Rosina. “Acquiring Mama Lucia was a natural next step for our continued growth in the meatball category and was born out of a great relationship between Rosina and Quaker Maid Meats, Inc.” adds Frank Corigliano.
COMMUNITY FOCUS Be it staff, customers, suppliers or business partners, all are of equal value to RFP, who long ago recognized the vital importance of each to the Company’s success. “We would not be able to thrive or survive without them, so we all get along well with each other and know exactly what to expect from one another,” Russell Corigliano shares. “What makes us most proud is that, as an organization, we have evolved into something that is very meaningful to everybody involved. As such, RFP takes the time to
celebrate its successes, grow from the challenges it has faced, and enjoy the relationships it has developed, with this community spirit also reflected by its support for local and national organizations. “I believe that we qualify as an outstanding corporate citizen. Many of us devote our time to various notfor-profit groups, and we represent RFP as a welcoming organization that is good for the community and worthy of people’s time.” Inspired by Italian neighborhood traditions for over 50 years, communities are at the core of RFP, to whom the Company say: “buon appetito!”
ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS, INC. Tel: 1.888.767.4621 cservice@rosina.com www.rosina.com Rosina Food Products can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube.
North America Outlook issue 08 | 9
ROSINA FOOD PRODUCTS, INC. Rosina Food Products, Inc. 170 French Road Buffalo, NY 14227-2717 Tel: 1.888.767.4621 cservice@rosina.com www.rosina.com
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