Performance Foodservice celebrated the opening of a massive distribution plant on Monterey Road Aug. 20.
Performance Foodservice, a division of Richmond, Va.-based Performance Food Group, distributes an array of food and food-related products such as baked goods, meats, poultry, condiments and cleaning supplies to restaurants and other businesses.
The company moved its operations from Santa Cruz to the 185,000-square-foot facility at 5480 Monterey Road in Gilroy. The business employs 132 people, ranging from truck drivers to warehouse workers and sales associates.
The Gilroy facility is estimated to receive 650 pallets of products daily, and distributes 6,500 individual products to customers across Northern California, from San Francisco to Fresno.
The company, which has a fleet of 40 trucks, shipped its first delivery from Gilroy on June 10 to Flying Food Group, which offers catering services to various airlines.
Performance Food Group President and CEO George Holm, speaking at the Aug. 20 ribbon-cutting ceremony, said the company was operating in three different buildings at its Santa Cruz location.
“It was not an ideal location,” he said. “It caught up to us when we didn’t have the space to accommodate the business.”
Holm added that the Gilroy location is the sixth such facility the company operates in the state.
According to a 2017 study commissioned by the City of Gilroy, Performance Foodservice sits on 30 acres, giving it enough space to expand by 150,000 square feet in the future.
Craig Hoskins, president and CEO of Performance Foodservice, said the company views the Bay Area as having “some of the best growth opportunities for us.”
“We see Gilroy as the southern gateway to the Bay Area,” he said.
Mayor Roland Velasco commended Performance Foodservice on the new facility.
“As the mayor of Gilroy, I would hope this facility is planned for future expansion and more jobs,” he said. “That means people are working, people are getting paychecks and people are spending those paychecks. That’s good for the community.”
Company officials prohibited photography inside the warehouse during the grand opening event, and also declined to supply any interior photos of the distribution facility.
Performance Foodservice purchased the property, located next to the Travel Inn, in 2016. It was listed by Renz and Renz Investment and Commercial Brokerage at $5.5 million.
The Santa Cruz facility had been operational since 1957, when Harry Ledyard founded a local food distribution company. The Ledyard company was sold in 2010 by former owner Richard Fontana of Scotts Valley to Performance Food Group for $100 million.
