Guittard Chocolate Company to Expand Production Facility
BURLINGAME, Calif. — Guittard Chocolate Company will expand chocolate production on May 15th at its second facility in Fairfield, announced President and CEO Gary Guittard. The strategic decision to add a second facility with chocolate production capabilities results from the long-range thinking integral to 20 years of planning for growth and innovation. Guittard recognized years ago that the Bay Area’s ever-increasing technology and biotechnology sectors would challenge his company’s ability to grow near its headquarters in Burlingame. He located the Fairfield site 20 years ago and built the 300,000 square-foot facility in 2001, which is used for warehousing and high-speed packaging. The addition of new, custom-designed proprietary chocolate production equipment allows Guittard to meet the growing domestic and international demand for its unique premium chocolate products from its three customer categories: wholesale/manufacturing, professional/foodservice, and consumer/retail.
The Bay Area’s See’s Candies, with which Guittard has a 60-year history, is among the makers of quality chocolate products that the Fairfield facility will further support. The company headquarters will remain at the Burlingame site, where proprietary processes and vintage equipment for producing specialty and limited-edition products as well as some of the traditional products, will continue.
Planning for future generations has been a hallmark of Guittard throughout its 150 years in the Bay Area. “Foresight and thoughtful planning is how the company has managed to thrive and continue creating jobs here in Northern California in 2018,” says Gary Guittard, a member of the fourth generation to own and manage the firm. “That the long-anticipated launch of chocolate production in Fairfield also coincides with our 150th anniversary is sweet serendipity.”
About Guittard Chocolate Company
Guittard Chocolate Company’s 150 year-progression from manufacturer and merchant during the Gold Rush in San Francisco to its position today as a chocolate industry leader and innovator serves as a snapshot of California food and commerce history. As the oldest continuously family-owned and operated chocolate company in the United States, Guittard, now under the fourth and fifth generation of family management, continues to grow with the same innovative spirit and commitment to sustainability and quality that has made it one of the world’s most respected makers of premium chocolate.
