A Rochester-based food processing company that began with pasta sauce and now produces a variety of food items is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
LiDestri Foods got its start after its current Chairman, Giovanni LiDestri, emigrated from Sicily. He began working for Ragu, then took over Cantisano Foods, which morphed into LiDestri Foods.
LiDestri currently employs about 1,000 people, mostly in the Rochester area in Fairport and Greece, and there are also operations in California.
Stefani LiDestri and her brother John LiDestri now serve as Co-CEO’s of the company. Stefani LiDestri noted that even with the wide variety of foods manufactured at the company, pasta sauce is still really at the core of what they do.
“It's always been the most important part of our portfolio that's never changed,” said LiDestri, “and it's not just tomato sauce. It's really salsa, everything that's red and pumpable. We've gotten into alfredos as well, (and) pestos. It's who we are, it's in our roots, and it certainly runs through runs through our blood.”
LiDestri Foods also has been working to divest from their spirits and beverage lines, and just focus on food, a mainstay of the business that Stefani LiDestri says is a growing segment of their portfolio.
“About 10 to 15 years ago, we were concerned that maybe the category would be flat, but I think everybody knows, (has) been doing the complete opposite of that, especially in the last five to six years, premium brands coming to market and (that has them) ringing the phone a lot at LiDestri.”
“Today is a celebration for us,” said Co-CEO John LiDestri. “We are proud of our strategic brand partners who are forecasting increased demand.” LiDestri said the company has the strengths needed to deliver on an aggressive growth plan.
Stefani LiDestri noted that like a lot of manufacturers coming out of the pandemic, there were some challenging times in terms of dealing with supply chain issues.
But she said LiDestri Foods is coming out of that cycle now, and asked whether the company is optimistic about its future, LiDestri said, “more than optimistic, we’re downright excited.”
