The Venice Bakery Story
Gluten Free Artisans
Gluten Free Artisans
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1930 Bothers Nazzareno and Ignacio Palmeri arrived at Ellis Island from Pioppo, Sicily – they were 17 and 15 years old respectively. Before long, they established the Palmeri Pizza Crust Company in the Bronx where they served pizza crust and Italian breads. But the boys’ dream was to live in California, where the weather was similar to that of their hometown back in Sicily. They headed out West.
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1953 They acquired the Venice Baking Company in Venice Beach, California.
They made all of their products using the finest, all-natural ingredients. Little did they know that future generations would follow in their footsteps and continue to use their recipes over the next fifty years. |
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1959 Nazzareno and Ignacio purchased a 14,000 square-foot facility on Main Street in El Segundo, where they moved their bread and pizza-making business.
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1963 When the Palmeri brothers retired in 1963, they sold the business to their son-in-law Anthony DeSisto. Anthony worked hard and engaged his own family in his work.
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1994 Mr. DeSisto’s sons James (Jimmy) and Lorenzo (Larry) were eager to help the family business. They took over the company in 1994 and used their sales and marketing background to quickly expand the production lines and keep up with volume. They maintained the pizzeria next to the factory and sold dough balls, pizza crusts and more to clients around the country.
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2005 Jimmy teamed with Dr. Karima Hirani, a practitioner of holistic medicine at the University of Southern California, his alma mater. At her request, he created a gluten-free pizza crust for her patients with autism who had responded well to a gluten-free diet. He learned all about Celiac disease, gluten intolerance and several autoimmune diseases so that those patients could enjoy pizza again too.
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2010 Venice Bakery showcased its new products to the industry at the Pizza Expo and started to educate the community about gluten-free. They partnered with the National Foundation of Celiac Awareness to teach pizzerias of all sizes about avoiding cross-contamination. Customers agreed that Venice Bakery offered the Best-Tasting Gluten-Free Pizza Crust.
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2012 Venice Bakery began designing a new, state-of-the-art, gluten-free factory in Torrance, CA, its first foray outside of its original El Segundo premises. The gluten-free world had grown so rapidly, that the company needed additional space to accommodate its growing business. The facility ensures the highest level of consumer and foodservice safety having obtained internationally recognized BRC Certification and is one of the largest gluten-free manufacturing locations in the country.
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2013 The consumption of gluten-free foods in the United States had significantly increased by over 400%.
The company now offers gluten-free calzones and is developing new products regularly. As a result, Venice Bakery sales have soared over the past 3 years, and our Best-Tasting Gluten-Free Pizza Crust has become the #1 sector of our business. |
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2017 Venice Bakery continues to be the leading manufacturer of gluten-free pizza crusts and flatbreads.
Venice Bakery is reaching more people than ever before! |