National food distributor in major Long Island expansion | Long Island Business News

Ferraro Foods, one of the country’s largest food distributors to Italian restaurants and pizzerias, is expanding its Long Island presence. 

The company has leased a 231,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility on 20 acres at 80 Wilshire Blvd. in Edgewood. Ferraro will be relocating from about 50,000 square feet it has been leasing in Melville. 

The Edgewood property had previously been leased to Pharmapacks, which filed for bankruptcy last year and vacated at the end of January. 

Ferraro plans to invest between $10 million and $12 million on extensive renovations to the building, which will include refrigeration equipment and other upgrades. The company is hoping to occupy the Edgewood facility sometime in the fourth quarter, according to Ferraro CEO Dan Hill. 

Ferraro, which currently employs about 120 people in Melville, plans to add between 30 and 60 new jobs with its Edgewood expansion. The company will also be seeking economic incentives from the Islip Industrial Development Agency. 

“We’ve been on the Island for 30-plus years and it’s a language we speak and we don’t have to have an interpreter,” Hill told LIBN. “We look at Long Island as having a heavily concentrated population of pizzerias. The strengths that we have with our own 230,000-square-foot facility means we can service more customers with more products that will be closer and on time, so we really look at this as a strategic play to grow the business.” 

Founded in 1975, the company began operating out of a garage in Green Brook, N.J. and had one truck delivering supplies to local pizzerias. Since then, Ferraro Foods has grown its fleet to over 475 delivery vehicles trucks, with a network of distribution centers in upstate New York, Long Island, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida and Indiana, serving customers in 26 states. 

Currently owned by private equity firm Kelso & Co., Ferraro had nearly $1.3 billion in sales revenue in 2022. 

Frank Frizalone of Cushman & Wakefield represented Ferraro Foods and Nick Pizzardi served as in-house representative for landlord Heartland Business Center in the Edgewood lease transaction. 

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