rmanino Foods' original basil pesto recipe came from Varese
Ligure,
near Genoa, Italy. The Armanino
family emigrated into the United States in the late 1800s. The
family chose
to
settle in Northern California because of its similarity to the farmlands
of northern Italy.
Operating as Armanino Farms of California, the family grew and
marketed fresh herbs and vegetables in the San Francisco area for many years. The company
expanded to national stature in the
1950s when William J. Armanino, son of the founder and now
chairman of the board, president and CEO of Armanino Foods, applied the then-new technology of freeze-drying to specialty
herbs, making their fresh flavor available year-round.
The frozen pesto portion of the business was retained when
Armanino Farms was sold in 1986. Armanino Foods of Distinction,
Inc., was formed to carry on the family tradition of providing
consumers with distinctive high-end products and the traditional
tastes of Italy derived from
authentic family recipes.
