Monterey Pasta Company
 Monterey Pasta Company was launched as a 400 square foot storefront on Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey, California in 1989. The Company produced small quantities of gourmet pastas and sauces using food processors and hand operated pasta makers. It sold its hand-made products to local grocery stores and restaurants on the Monterey Peninsula.
The founders started their small, fresh pasta company in response to the public's growing interest in healthy gourmet foods. Consumers were increasingly excited about fresh pasta given its superior quality and nutritional value, as well as its ease of preparation. The founders were dedicated to incorporating exciting, non-traditional ingredients into this highly traditional product. Local customers often stopped by the storefront, delivering ingredients such as fresh crab, with requests for custom made raviolis.
The Company soon acquired its first major grocery account and began to expand to accommodate demand. In 1993, the Company completed its initial public offering. Its stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "PSTA". In 1994, the Company opened a 10,000 square-foot production facility in Salinas, California (Monterey County) utilizing state-of-the-art packaging techniques to preserve flavor and extend product shelf-life.
Monterey Gourmet Foods has evolved from a neighborhood fresh pasta shop on California's Monterey Peninsula to a diversified national leader in fresh and frozen gourmet foods. Today, the company operates manufacturing facilities in California, Washington and Oregon, with headquarters and distribution centers in Salinas California. With strategic acquisitions and dynamic product innovations, Monterey Gourmet Foods' sales surpassed $94 million in 2006, with products being sold in more than 11,000 retail supermarkets and club store locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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