Vincent Gruppuso
Encyclopedia
Vincent Gruppuso was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 businessman and former deliveryman, who created and founded Kozy Shack Enterprises, multimillion-dollar company known for its pudding
Pudding
Pudding most often refers to a dessert, but it can also be a savory dish.In the United States, pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, though it may also refer to other types such as bread and rice pudding.In the United Kingdom and...

.

Early life

Gruppuso was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 25, 1940, to parents Joseph and Mazie Ditta Gruppuso. His dad was a construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 worker and his mother was a seamstress.

He worked as an aerial photographer
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...

 in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during the late 1950s, before returning to Brooklyn. He worked at several jobs before being hired by the Arnold Bread company as a deliveryman.

Gruppuso's marriage to Virginia Pantaleo ended in divorce.

Kozy Shack Enterprises

Gruppuso continued to work as a bread deliveryman in Brooklyn during the 1960s. He discovered the Cozy Shack delicatessen
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....

 on Seneca Avenue in Brooklyn, which happened to be one of his delivery stops. He soon began selling trays of the puddings from the Cozy Shack to his other customers on his delivery route, in addition to the bread.

He bought the recipe
Recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describe how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.-Components:Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components*The name of the dish...

 for the puddings outright from the Cozy Shack delicatessen in 1967 and opened a small factory in Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Historically, the neighborhood straddled the Queens-Brooklyn boundary. The neighborhood is part of Queens...

. The small company quickly expanded into a major business. As of January 2008, Gruppuso's company has more than 400 employees working in three plants, which are located in Turlock, California
Turlock, California
Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States, part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 Census, Turlock had a population of 80,549, up from 55,810 at the 2000 census, making it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County.-Geography:Turlock lies in the...

, Hicksville, New York
Hicksville, New York
Hicksville is a hamlet and census-designated place located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 41,547 at the 2010 census...

 and Lough Egish
Lough Egish
Lough Egish is a rural area in County Monaghan, Ireland which takes its name from the local lake, Lough Egish. It is situated approximately midway between Ballybay, Castleblayney and Carrickmacross....

, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. The company estimated its total revenue at around $140 million in 2007, much of it from the sale of 115 million containers of pudding and pastries during that year. Cozy Shack puddings are sold throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

In 2006, the New York Times named Kozy Shack's rice pudding as one of its "Grocery Gems."

Death

Vincent Gruppuso died at his home in East Hampton, New York
East Hampton (town), New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York...

, on December 29, 2007, of complications from diabetes at the age of 67. He was survived by three daughters, his former wife, a brother and five grandchildren.

External links

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