By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
Zuppardi’s Apizza has announced a major expansion in the city it has called home for more than 90 years.
Rooted at its original Union Avenue restaurant in West Haven since 1934, the iconic New Haven-style pizzeria is now transitioning its rapidly growing frozen food division, Zuppardi’s Frozen Foods LLC, to a larger space on First Avenue to meet surging local and national demand.
Mayor Dorinda Borer praised the multimillion-dollar expansion, saying it will stimulate economic growth, increase the city’s grand list of taxable property, and create employment opportunities for residents.
“This expansion project is a win-win-win for West Haven,” Borer said. “We are keeping a beloved historic business in our city, growing our tax base and creating jobs, all while showing that West Haven is open for business and supportive of commercial redevelopment.”
According to Cheri Pearce, who founded Zuppardi’s Frozen Foods in 2018, the company has purchased a 26,926-square-foot industrial building at 755 First Ave. and will redevelop 17,626 square feet of space for frozen pizza production.
The upgrade will create five full-time positions and allow the fourth-generation, family-owned business to scale up its frozen pizza production for multistate distribution while securing its long-term residence in the city.
“I am excited about this endeavor!” Pearce said. “It has been a long journey. I am happy to support the West Haven community that has supported my family for 90-plus years. I could not imagine operating anywhere else, and the reason I was focused on finding a place here.”
Pearce plans to sublease the remaining 9,300 square feet of warehouse space, said Senior Vice President Fred A. Messore of Orange-based Colonial Properties Inc., who represented her in the purchase and is the broker for the lease space.
As a show of support for the expansion project, the City Council on May 26 unanimously adopted a Borer-proposed real property tax incentive agreement with Zuppardi’s Frozen Foods.
The resolution authorizes the city to enter into the agreement under Connecticut General Statutes Section 12-65b.
“Mayor Borer’s leadership, along with the efforts of the various city departments and the City Council, played an important role in helping to make this project a reality,” Messore said. “For that, both Cheri and I are sincerely grateful.”
Zuppardi’s has operated a thriving wholesale program, supplying personal-sized frozen pizzas to supermarkets, bars and breweries in Connecticut as well as to pizza connoisseurs across the country.
The frozen pizzas are crafted to replicate the signature New Haven-style “apizza,” pronounced “abeetz,” characterized by a thin, chewy, brick-oven-baked crust with a slight char.
“I think it’s awesome that Cheri, who is a Zuppardi descendant, launched her own business and grew it into something literally nationwide,” Borer said. “During COVID, the purchase and shipment of frozen pizzas exploded, and Cheri, a smart businesswoman, pivoted her business model and was able to grow the business.
“Today, millions of frozen pizzas are made and purchased through Zuppardi’s, and we are happy to have them call West Haven home.”
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