World Wide Gourmet Foods

World Wide Gourmet Foods was started in 1997 when Jack Praino purchased Alaska Smokehouse as the first brand to be owned by World Wide Gourmet Foods. Back then, their specialty was taking retort packaged smoked salmon and seafood spreads and putting them into boxes for sale in gift shops. A few years later, World Wide Gourmet Foods bought The Famous Pacific Dessert Company and established it as the second brand. Production for their shelf stable baked goods was co-packed by Richard Anderson at Traverse Bay Confections. World Wide Gourmet Foods then made an offer to Traverse Bay Confections in 2010 and brought their brand, their production team, their production equipment, and Richard Anderson under the World Wide Gourmet Foods umbrella. For the last 15 years, World Wide Gourmet Foods has expanded their production capabilities and manufacturing areas of expertise. Now, World Wide Gourmet Foods is a top tier manufacturer, making products for both major corporations as well as smaller companies.

Jack started in the food industry back in high school, working as a stocker at a local grocery store in Richland, Washington. Jump ahead to 1997, when he purchased Alaska Smokehouse and created World Wide Gourmet Foods. Jack took that one brand and grew it into a company that owns ten brands by purchasing existing brands and bringing on staff from those companies. By doing that, he evolved the company from only purchasing co-packed products to becoming a manufacturing powerhouse that operates multiple bakery and confectionery lines. Jack’s 30 years of experience in the food industry will help you to avoid some of the pitfalls that occur when launching products into the marketplace.

Richard got his culinary education from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. After graduating, he worked at several fine dining establishments across the country before he ended up at the Four Seasons in Seattle. It was then that he switched from fine dining to opening up his own dessert company, Traverse Bay Confections in 2005. For the next five years, Rich made wonderful baked goods and confections for consumers and for World Wide Gourmet Foods as a co-packer. In 2010, Rich and Jack joined forces, when Jack purchased Traverse Bay Confections and brought Rich and his team on to produce baked goods and confections as a part of World Wide Gourmet Foods. Rich handles all recipe execution as well as research and development on all new projects. Using his 30 years of experience in the food industry, Rich is an expert in getting from a concept to a commercial product quickly.

Charlie has worked in multiple food production environments, learning how to easily run both commercial kitchens and manufacturing facilities. Charlie ran a commercial kitchen in an elder care facility before joining World Wide Gourmet Foods in 2020. Charlie has an expert eye in how to get the most out of a production team and knows how to operate and maintain all of the equipment in the plant, making him an ideal Plant Manager with 7 years of experience in commercial food production.

John worked several jobs in the food industry before working at World Wide Gourmet Foods, including working all back of the house positions at a neighborhood restaurant in high school, being the ship’s cook on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska for multiple seasons, managing two campus eateries while at Gonzaga, and working both front and back of the house at catering businesses after college. Fast forward a few years and John joined World Wide Gourmet Foods as a Senior Account Manager in 2009. Since then, he’s used his 22 years of experience to drive sales and growth for both World Wide Gourmet Foods and for their customers.

Patty got her culinary education at in Chicago with a degree in pastry. Patty worked several high end restaurant jobs as a pastry chef in Chicago before she moved to Washington and joined World Wide Gourmet Foods in 2018. In addition to providing product development feedback with her over 13 years of experience in baked goods and confections, Patty manages the accounting and payroll for World Wide Gourmet Foods and operates a custom bakery in her free time.

Tyler boasts over 15 years of experience in the food industry, a journey that began in high school, working in food service at a retirement community. His dedication to quality and safety saw him promoted to Dining Services Director, where he honed his craft by focusing on providing his residents with the best service possible, and coordinating with other departments to make sure each resident got the highest standards of care and quality. In 2021, Tyler joined World Wide Gourmet Foods as the Quality Control Manager. Tyler brought his commitment to thorough documentation and food safety practices, as well as his detail-oriented approach to elevate the quality standards at World Wide Gourmet Foods. Tyler’s ability to integrate his comprehensive understanding of quality control from a diverse background makes him an invaluable asset at World Wide Gourmet Foods.