{"id":347,"date":"2019-04-01T14:46:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T21:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southernoregonbusiness.scarabmedia.com\/?p=347"},"modified":"2019-07-11T14:55:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T21:55:09","slug":"amys-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southernoregonbusiness.com\/amys-kitchen\/","title":{"rendered":"Amy\u2019s Kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Amy\u2019s Kitchen<\/strong> was created 30 years ago from the belief that great tasting food should be available to all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all started when founders Rachel and Andy Berliner were pregnant with their daughter Amy, the namesake of the company. When Rachel was on bed rest during her pregnancy, Andy went looking for ready-made meals at their local natural grocery store. He couldn\u2019t find anything organic and vegetarian that satisfied their taste so they decided to make their own. Turns out they were not the only ones in search of delicious, organic food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Amy\u2019s takes pride in cooking great tasting, ready-made, organic and vegetarian meals for more than 14 million consumers, serving more than 210 million meals each year. Amy\u2019s Kitchen has remained a family-owned company and our food is made with the same care as the first day we started, just with slightly larger pots and pans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Medford?
How did Amy\u2019s choose Medford? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early 2000\u2019s, Amy\u2019s was experiencing significant growth – quickly outgrowing our Santa Rosa, California production facility. As we looked at where to open our next kitchen, it was important to keep production close to home, maintaining a strong connection with our culinary and sensory teams in order to ensure we upheld our high quality standards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Oregon\u2019s friendly business climate and close proximity to California, Amy\u2019s began exploring potential opportunities in the region. Medford quickly moved to the top of the list with unmatched cost advantages and a workforce that was already skilled in agriculture and food manufacturing, which we knew would help ensure a seamless transition for new employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local Economic Development agency was also an instrumental part of Amy\u2019s adoption into the community, guiding Amy\u2019s through business opportunities and incentives and supporting our arrival in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2006, Amy\u2019s was delighted to open our doors in the Medford region, specifically in White City, with a 188,000 square foot facility, making 25 products (all pizza) and employing 250 employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has Amy\u2019s grown in Medford? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2006, Amy\u2019s has grown significantly in Medford, growing our employee base to 980 people and expanding our footprint to 450,000 square feet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve added two entr\u00e9es line, a fresh pasta line, a tofu production area, as well as a canning line to make Amy\u2019s soups, chilis and refried beans. In addition, Medford is proudly the sole producers of Amy\u2019s gluten-free burritos. In 2014, we also expanded our storage capabilities to match the growth in production with a 125,000 square dry and frozen food storage warehouse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve also invested in improving our environmental footprint in Medford \u2013 building a waste water treatment facility on site and incorporating cardboard and plastics recycling equipment in the plant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today in Medford, Amy\u2019s has six food production lines, making 218 different products each year, including pizzas, soups, chilis, refried beans, entrees, gluten-free burritos and non-dairy frozen desserts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Amy\u2019s doing to support the local area? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Amy\u2019s core values is to \u2018take care of each other.\u2019 This extends not only to our employees, but also to their families. One of the important ways we do this is by providing comprehensive benefits for our employees and their families. In 2014, we were Southern Oregon Business Journal 24 delighted to open our on-site Amy\u2019s Family Health Center operated by Vera Whole Health next to our Medford Plant. The health center provides Amy\u2019s Kitchen employees and their families free, quality primary care with no-cost medical prescriptions as well as ongoing health coaching. Amy\u2019s Kitchen has been one of few employers nationwide to offer this level of free, convenient, high-quality, ongoing health care on-site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond our benefits program and onsite-healthcare, Amy\u2019s also offers college scholarships to the children of our employees. Last year, for example, at a community awards ceremony, Amy\u2019s co-founder, Andy Berliner, personally presented the scholarships to 34 students, all children of our White City employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Amy\u2019s is committed to contributing to the broader local community in Medford – supporting the education community in and around Medford by hosting ten local teachers for an externship to learn more about the company and career opportunities that exist for their students, as well as volunteering and donating to Kids Unlimited, the North Medford High School and Jackson Elementary schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, as a company whose purpose is to \u2018make it easy and enjoyable for everyone to eat well\u2019<\/em>, Amy\u2019s is passionate about ensuring low-income residents and people with dietary restrictions have access to the food they need. To help support this effort, we work closely with the Oregon Food Bank and ACCESS to locally donate food that goes to those in need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last 12 years, Amy\u2019s has truly thrived in Medford and we look forward to continuing this journey with our employees, their families and the local community in the area for the long-term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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