Custodio Alvarado
Kitchen Manager

"I have grown up with Amy's Kitchen," says Custodio Alvarado, referring to the many changes and tremendous growth he has seen within the company and in his job duties while working at Amy's Kitchen.

Custodio started working for Amy's Kitchen in November of 1990, three years after he came to the United States from Mexico. He started in production, preparing the lines for the workers that assemble Amy's products. Custodio also found himself helping out in other areas whenever he was needed. Within his first six months, he seemed to have done every job in the plant at least once. His hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed by Rachel and Andy Berliner and he was asked if he would like to work in the "kitchen," a department of two people, at the time. Since 1990, the Kitchen Department has expanded to include over sixty employees. During that time, Custodio was promoted to Kitchen Supervisor and then to Kitchen Manager.

Custodio manages all aspects of the Kitchen Department, which is responsible for having recipes cooked for every product scheduled for assembly each day. This includes, but is not limited to, preparing dough for pizza, peeling and cutting onions, measuring spices, mixing a large variety of wonderful soups, sauces and chili on the kettle deck, and even making tofu. Although Custodio does not do the hands on work himself, he is responsible for managing and assigning work to the 60 plus employees that prepare the ingredients for production.

Custodio enjoys working as part of the productive team that is Amy's Kitchen. He is proud to be part of a company that provides healthy meals to millions of people. He is also proud of Amy's commitment to a clean and safe working environment. In visiting other plant facilities, he has noticed that Amy's is far superior in cleanliness and efficiency than most.

When asked what his favorite Amy's food is, his response is simply, "It would be easier to tell you what I don't like" (the soy cheese items).