About Us
Founded by Victor “Vic” and Charlotte Cortesi, V & C Foods began with the distribution of ranch fresh eggs from Petaluma and the Central Valley to small bakeries in San Francisco. Providing quality, service and value to his loyal customers was second nature to Victor Cortesi. During World War II, prolonged periods of rationing led to shortages in many commodities such as eggs, butter and sugar that were crucial to the daily operations of many restaurants and bakeries. It was no small undertaking, but Victor was able to meet the demands of a small group of establishments by bartering and exchanging these hard to find food items. He would find out what ingredients one client might be able to share and help them trade those items for other staples they needed from another one of his customers . . . at the same time, consistently supplying those ranch fresh eggs.
During this period, a loyal customer base emerged that depended upon his weekly deliveries of those ranch fresh eggs, many of which the company continues to proudly serve today.
Victor Cortesi, a mentor to his employees, passed away in 1987, and the company’s legacy continued under the management of the Cortesi Family’s second generation. For nearly 49 years, V & C Foods successfully operated in the South of Market District of San Francisco and moved to its current location in the Bayview District in 1994. It was during this time that Victor’s daughter, Judy Cortesi, entered into partnership with the company’s longtime Distribution Manager, Steven Herrera. As the business continued to grow, a wider range of products and services were carefully selected and offered to the company’s ever-growing customer base. During this period of expansion the company focus remained loyal to its founder’s original intent by continuing to focus on serving food service clientele.
In 2005, Judy Cortesi retired and turned V & C Foods over to Steven Herrera. The Herrera Family continues to honor the company values that were established over 65 years ago by Victor Cortesi. As we continue to seek opportunities to better serve our clientele, our pledge to our customers remains the same today as it was in 1945: “Quality, Service, & Value”.
