Co-founder of fresh-cut vegetable processor dies at 66

Frank Gilardi, a co-founder of fresh-cut vegetable processor Freshway Foods, has died at 66.

Gilardi founded Freshway Foods in Sidney, Ohio, in 1988 with his brother, Phil Gilardi, after the men purchased the assets of their father’s wholesale company. The brothers refocused the strategy of the business to provide pre-cut and shredded lettuce to the foodservice industry, according to a news release.

The Gilardis sold the company to US Foods in 2016.

Jim Sanfillipo, owner of Sanfillipo Produce and one of Gilardi’s first customers, met Gilardi when he walked unannounced into Sanfillipo’s wholesale produce business.

“He explained that he and Phil were going to get started in the next few weeks and asked for our business. I agreed,” Sanfillipo said in the release.

“Frank’s commitment to customer service was immediately evident when he rode with the driver on that very first delivery to train him on where to go and which dock to back up to. Sanfillipo Produce was one of three deliveries on that first truck.”

Devon Beer, Freshway’s president and chief operating officer, said Gilardi enjoyed growing the business.

“Customers will remember Frank as a man of his word,” Beer said in the release. “He was very focused on making sure that promises made were kept, and he took Freshway’s critical role in the value-add supply chain very seriously.”

Gilardi, who died July 8, served on the board of many local associations in Ohio and in Immokalee, Florida. A longtime pilot, he participated in Veterans Airlift Command, which provides injured combat veterans free flights for medical and compassionate purposes.