Amy's Kitchen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amy's Kitchen is a privately held corporation which began operation in 1987, with the purpose of making healthly, organic, and easy-to-prepare frozen food. Owned and run by Andy and Rachel Berliner, Amy's Kitchen took its name from their then-newborn daughter. The company employs nearly 1,000 people and operates processing plants located in Santa Rosa, California and Medford, Oregon.
Both proprietors had been long involved in the organic food business; Rachel's family had been growing and selling organic vegetables and fruits since the 1950s, while Andy was formerly the president and majority shareholder of the Magic Mountain Herb Tea company. Because Amy's Kitchen is a private entity, reports of its annual earnings are not public knowledge.
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[edit] Product
While the majority of Amy's food products are aimed at vegetarians and vegans, a small but determined focus is also given to people on kosher diets, as well as those who are unable to tolerate ingredients such as wheat gluten, soy, lactose, and maize derivatives. While most of Amy's wares are frozen, some are not, such as their line of pasta sauces and canned soups. Frozen or not, however, all their products are marketed to people with specialized diets and anyone who considers themselves health-conscious. The organic compound of their product line ranges from 70-95%. None of their products include actual animal meat (i.e., chicken or beef), though some contain animal-derived elements (such as dairy and honey). They do not, however, use eggs in any of their products.
Because most of their products qualify as frozen food, they compete directly with similar companies, such as Stouffers, Uncle Ben's, and Healthy Choice. Most mainstream supermarkets in the USA sell Amy's products right alongside the others, though some sequester them into "organic food" sections along with the likes of less traditional frozen fare.
[edit] Kosher
One feature which makes Amy's products stand out to observant Jews is their claim to be kosher. Because of the strict laws of kosher food (kashrut), no other nationwide brand of frozen food offers kosher meals.
Unfortunately, the hechsher (kosher certification) that Amy's uses (Ner Tamid K) is not common, and is questioned by many orthodox Jews because of the appearance of Ner Tamid K's standards and controversies in the past. Because the hechsher system relies on trust, many orthodox Jews will not eat Amy's dinners.
[edit] Availability
Nearly all U.S. mainstream supermarkets carry Amy's soups, sauces and/or frozen food. Similarly, most local natural food stores will offer a good selection of Amy's.
