Specialty food company expands its offerings with acquisition

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This article was published 06/10/2023 (781 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Piccola Cucina, a Winnipeg specialty food company specializing in almond-based healthy-for-you-indulgences like macaroons and frozen pie crusts, is expanding its offerings with the acquisition of Judy G Foods.

Pina Romolo, who founded Piccola Cucina with her mother in 2009, is excited about taking ownership of the Judy G assets that includes gluten-free, high-quality frozen pizzas and vegan desserts.

“It is a very complementary business,” Romolo said. “The processing is similar. We’re all gluten-free and the products sit side-by-side in the frozen food section and we’re very familiar with a lot of the ways the business works.”

Romolo had known Judy Goodzeck, Judy G’s founder, for many years as both of them were building their respective businesses.

“She reached out a few months ago and said she is ready to move on and asked if this would be something of interest, and I said sure,” Romolo said.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Romolo, who is currently touring the U.S. on a three-week all-expense paid program with the U.S. state department called the International Visitor Leadership Program, said she had completed an expansion to Piccola Cucina’s production facility in Winnipeg just before the pandemic.

“We had a lot of excess capacity,” she said. “We have the ability to take on additional production.”

Now in addition to Piccola Cucina’s macaroons and frozen pie shells, tortillas/wraps and almond flour it will be adding Judy G’s pizza crusts, pizzas and vegan desserts.

Michael Mikulak, executive director of Food & Beverage Manitoba, said companies like Piccola Cucina have a tough time making a profit with such smaller-run specialty products.

He said the addition of Judy G’s portfolio will give Romolo’s company additional product offerings and the possibility of leveraging distribution options that both companies had already established.

Among other retail placements, Piccola Cucina sells through Costco Canada’s online store and Judy G has distribution with Sobeys and Safeway, effectively now giving Piccola Cucina national distribution.

“In many ways Piccola Cucina is very typical of more than half our members, with five to 10 employees, primarily selling in Manitoba but sometime across the country,” said Mikulak.

Judy G’s products — like frozen roasted Mediterranean artichoke pizza and frozen chocolate velvet cakes with dark chocolate macha ganache — will give Piccola Cucina product offerings for throughout the day.

“Pina has a specialty foods operation,’ said Mikulak. “They may not be products people would have every day. This allows her to diversify. She had wraps now she’s got pizza and dessert. I think she’s trying to position herself with everyday products.”

Romolo is not certain why she was invited to take part in the U.S. State Department’s IVLP, which in this case is targeted at women in manufacturing, but she said she was humbled and honoured.

Among other things they, are looking at best-practices in the U.S. and are visiting regional markets including Detroit, Tulsa, Okla., and Huntsville, Ala.

But she said she is also using the experience to learn more about strategies she could use to break into the U.S. market.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to sell into the U.S.,” she said. “While I’m wearing one hat (as a participant in the IVLP) I’m always looking for opportunities to grow my business in other parts of the world.”

Among other things, shipping out of Winnipeg into the U.S. with cargo sizes that are less than truck-load is a challenge for companies like Piccola Cucina, especially when the product needs to be kept frozen.

“I’m trying to figure out the most cost-effective ways to get our products across the border,” she said. “There are some logistical things we need to work through but there is no reason we can’t figure that out.”

As she is currently in the U.S., she was not able to receive the president’s award at Food & Beverage Manitoba’s Harvest Dinner and Award Ceremony held Thursday night at the Fort Garry Hotel.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca