Every time food arrives on your plate at a restaurant, it comes with a story to tell. The flavors and textures come to life with every crunch or burst of umami. Likely, the chef has woven their own background and cultural influences into the dish. But to truly understand the narrative, you must dig in even deeper, tracing the ingredients back to their origins.
In the Pacific Northwest, oftentimes that search will lead you to Merlino Foods, a local distributor of quality foods headquartered in the Sodo neighborhood of Seattle. Those neatly packed warehouse shelves are the legacy of Angelo Merlino, an Italian immigrant who started the company in 1900 with his sons Ubaldo and Attilio, importing ingredients from their mother country for a growing community of their compatriots. Their store served as an informal bank and “city center” to many Italian Americans of the day.
The Biesold family purchased the business in 1976, guiding it through several expansions over the years while solidifying a reputation of dependable service. Nearly half a century later, Merlino Foods attracted the eye of a likeminded food distributor with four generations of family ownership and a similar dedication to excellence — Harbor Foods.
“We've kept in close contact with several other independent, family-owned food distributors up and down the West Coast over the years, and as you can imagine, it's a small industry,” said Harbor Foods CEO Justin Erickson. “So, Merlino was very much on our radar.”
Following last year’s acquisition, Merlino Foods continues to operate as a standalone independent company. “We're proud to be stewards of that legacy,” he said. “We didn't want to change it. We don't need to slap our name on it to continue to grow and develop what it is.”
There is still plenty of synergy behind the scenes. Harbor’s broader distribution footprint can take the more than 250 Merlino brand products — everything from olive oil and tomatoes to a particularly extensive line of spices — into new markets outside the Puget Sound corridor, like Port Angeles or Walla Walla, to help support chefs that are looking for high-end Italian specialty items.
From its start as Metropolitan Grocery Co. to today, Merlino Foods trucks have been a mainstay on the streets of Seattle.
Larger, existing customers will have more opportunities to scale with Merlino, too. “We hear, ‘We're growing our restaurant chain rapidly. We want to add locations. Can Merlino keep up?’” Erickson said. “Is it a robust enough company to have the strong back-end systems and technology, the depth in the bench of people on the team? So, the collaboration really strengthens our position in the market from that standpoint.”
At the end of the day, the entire “chef tree,” and us as diners, benefit.
When newcomers get their start working for a famous Seattle chef, such as Tom Douglas or Ethan Stowell, or local institutions including Anthony’s, Macrina Bakery or Pagliacci Pizza, they take what they learn to new restaurants or maybe even open their own. Over time, Merlino Foods has developed a bit of a cult following based entirely on word of mouth.
With the deal, Harbor Foods aims to maintain and even lift that esteemed standard.
“Restaurant owners and chefs love people, because it's the hospitality industry and they care about their local community,” Erickson said. “Our teams really take the time to listen to the customers to figure out what they are trying to achieve and how we can help craft something that will work for them. We're flexible because we're independent, so we can do what needs to be done to make those dreams come true.”