March 11th 1999 >> Source: The Sonoma County Independent
From In Love With Amy's by Marina Wolf

What is it they say about little acorns and mighty oaks? Whatever it is, it surely applies to the Petaluma based Amy's Kitchen. Owners Andy and Rachel Berliner set up shop a mere 10 years ago with one goal in mind: to provide healthy, easy-to-fix food for people like themselves, busy but conscientious about how they keep themselves fueled.

Named after the Berliner's daughter, Amy's Kitchen now offers more than 50 of their organic, vegetarian products in frozen food aisles across North America, with flavors that are finally laying to rest the reputation of, well, organic vegetarian food products. "Vegetarian foods are historically known as foods that may be good for you but probably don't taste so great," says Andy Berliner, who thinks that Amy's has helped change that prejudice.

A recent spate of honors seems to bear that out. Nationally syndicated food columnists Bonnie Leblang and Carolyn Wyman recently awarded their 1998 Golden Shopping Cart Award to Amy's Kitchen's Pocket Sandwiches line. "Amy's Pocket Sandwiches are sure indications that organic vegetarian foods are going mainstream," wrote Leblang, a nutritionist, who raved about the fiber and other wholesome values. Wyman, a self-proclaimed junk food fanatic predisposed against both organic and vegetarian items, confessed her attraction: "Taste is the reason. These are the most flavorful sandwiches I've ever eaten, frozen or not."

On other fronts, the Berliners just got back from the International Food Exposition in England last month, where their new pesto pizza picked up best of show in the International Food Product division. And the Pocket Sandwiches place Amy's Kitchen among the finalists for an Edison Best New Product Award, sponsored by the American Marketing Association.

To top it off, so to speak, Amy's Kitchen is venturing outside the frozen food genre with a new line of organic pasta sauces and soups that is being released April 1. Among the five new soups is the "no chicken noodle" (I love vegetarian humor), while the sauces - marinara, tomato basil, and garlic mushroom - will be made from the same recipes that adorn the popular entrees.

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