Amy's Kitchen, Inc.

We didn’t set out to become the nation’s leading natural frozen food brand. All we wanted to do was create a business that would allow us to earn a living by providing convenient and tasty natural vegetarian meals for people like ourselves, who appreciated good food, but were often too busy to cook "from scratch." Rachel and Andy Berliner of Amy's KitchenWe started on a "shoestring," using our own house and barn as headquarters. The founding meetings were held in the same room where we were married and where our daughter Amy was born. This was in 1987, before the idea of "organic" food had become well known, and when there were very few frozen meals available for vegetarians to eat, either in health food stores or supermarkets. We were, however, very fortunate in being in the right place at the right time. The number of vegetarians had increased dramatically, as had consumer awareness of the harmful effects on their health and the environment of chemicals in the food supply. Our first product, a vegetable pot pie, was an instant success. Other products followed in rapid succession, and we made the amazing discovery that they were being eaten not only by vegetarians and those interested in natural foods, but by millions of people looking for easy to prepare meals that really tasted good. Since then Amy’s has created over 88 frozen meals, including pizzas, pocket sandwiches, pot pies, entrées, snacks and whole meals. In 1999, we introduced a grocery line that now includes canned soups, beans and chili as well as jarred pasta sauces and salsas. Our foods are carried by all natural food stores, supermarkets and some club stores in the United States, Canada and abroad. Although we have considerably expanded our production facilities and the number of people we employ, we have remained a family owned and operated business, sensitive to the needs of our customers.