Glass Onion started as a humble, chef driven special events caterer. As time passed, we grew and adapted, from simple lunches in the early nineties, to full blown from scratch catered affairs, to full time production in a custom designed 40,000 square foot production facility. From inception, the company’s goal has remained the same: artisan food with an attention to detail and a dedication to food safety. Our Greens & Grains branded items, and our contract produced private label items, are all California Crafted to perfecting standards.
Our Man In Salinas Valley
Glass Onion employs a full time produce buyer in Salinas Valley. He has over forty years of experience in the produce industry, all of it in the Valley where his life long career began loading boxes of produce. His four decades of connections and experience are key to Glass Onion’s fresh, farm to plate philosophy. Via this conduit, Glass Onion maintains relationships direct with the farmers, ensuring the best raw ingredients, in the shortest amount of time between harvest and prep – a vital pipeline when dealing with highly perishable natural ingredients.
Home Made – Production and Preparation
Our 40,000 square foot USDA, FDA, SQF Level 2 facility was designed with homemade production in mind. We make use of a built to suit hot kitchen to produce various components used in fresh, frozen and ambient items such as our Maple Quinoa Brittle. The extensive prep facility ensures the freshest produce possible, prepared to the company’s own standards. Dressings and sauces are all made in house, by hand, adding a customized touch to many of the products produced. All of these artisan components are put together using assembly lines: bridging the gap between artisan craftsmanship, and large-scale production techniques. Glass Onion’s control of the entire preparation and production process ensures both co-packing flexibility and the agility to make changes as they become desired or necessary.
New Product Development
Glass Onion’s in-house product development team creates new Greens & Grains Products, develops new items for our private label partners, and reinterprets and scales existing products that our partners have decided to move out of house, or from another partner. The team is led by a food scientist, with a restaurant kitchen background, allowing for a balance between practical creativity based on food trends, and a solid scientific foundation.
Food Safety
Quality Assurance is the second largest department in the company in terms of manpower. They are not only concerned with food safety and labeling, but independently monitor the other departments to ensure allergen control, quality standards and food safety standards are followed to specification. For more information about Glass Onion’s Food Safety Program, visit their dedicated page.
Future
Moving into 2020, Glass Onion will continue to focus on the future, leveraging its vast chef driven product development and production experience, while looking forward, embracing new trends, and production technology. If you are interested in being part of Glass Onion’s future, feel free to reach out.