Sauce boss Paul Guglielmo buys Bergen food manufacturing plant, hopes to double sales
Photo by Jim Burns.
Information from Guglielmo Sauce:
ROCHESTER — Paul Guglielmo, founder and CEO of Guglielmo Sauce, purchased food manufacturing facility Permac Enterprises Inc. located in Bergen in Genesee County.
The transaction took place in early May, 2020. Permac is one of only six USDA cannery manufacturing plants in New York State and specializes in taking recipes from individuals, restaurants or food production brands, and adjusting it for large production.
Customers range from marinara sauces to hot sauces and BBQ sauces to salsas for brands across the region. It’s the exclusive production facility for Guglielmo Sauce, Coach Tony’s, Uncle Ralph’s, Red Osier and several other high-profile food brands.
As CEO, Guglielmo will manage all operations, marketing, production, sales and business strategy and growth for the organization, and will continue his role as CEO of Guglielmo Sauce.
The first major change under Guglielmo’s leadership: a new 5,000-square-foot manufacturing facility (building) located on Appletree Avenue in Bergen.
For the past 15 years, Permac has been housed in a former pizza shop. The Permac team has moved all production and business operations to the new facility and work will begin there effective today (June 4).
Guglielmo’s goal is to double sales in the first year. This afternoon Guglielmo told The Batavian that he hopes to grow and be able to hire additional staff. For now, staffing consists of himself, two full-time employees and one part-time employee.
Today, Permac uses two 35-gallon kettles to produce its customers' products. In time, he plans on adding equipment and doubling production efforts. Additionally, he plans on rebranding the manufacturing facility this summer.
“I’m living out my dream,” said 37-year old Guglielmo. “I started Guglielmo Sauce in 2014 and it grew beyond what I ever could’ve imagined. Today I own a well-respected, well-oiled manufacturing facility; the one that helped me start Guglielmo Sauce on Day 1. Permac was my first partner.
"This team is a group of some of the hardest working partners and I’m excited for the opportunity to lead our team, grow this manufacturing facility, and turn out great products for stores and customers across the markets we serve.”
Permac was founded in 2004 by Tony Perry, who sold the business to Guglielmo. He’s on a three-month transition contract with Guglielmo.
Guglielmo founded his small business, based in the Greater Rochester region, called Guglielmo Sauce, a line of 15+ marinara sauces. The product is available in more than 500 stores, including Wegmans, some Tops locations, and Whole Foods.
All production of Guglielmo Sauces started at Permac, until volume of production became too large. However, the first client Guglielmo is adding to Permac’s book-of-business is his own Guglielmo Sauce.
He grew up in Northeast Ohio and lives in Brighton with his wife and son.
