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BROOKSVILLE — They slice and bake eggplant in a small warehouse at the Hernando County Airport Industrial Park — boxes and boxes of the dark purple fruit, most of which winds up in restaurants as eggplant Parmesan.
In a typical year, Mr. G's Foods slices, breads and bakes about 250,000 pounds of the stuff, which is shipped to eateries around the country. A team of 16 makes the four products the company sells: pizza dough, cannoli cream, cannoli shells, and of course, baked eggplant.
But if you ask managing partner Gerard Biagio Guarino to name the company's most important product, he might name something else: good employees.
"I want to give a chance to anyone who is willing to work," Guarino said. "What is your life if you don't try to help someone?"
On a recent morning, while a fan buzzed and satellite radio blared Queen's We Are the Champions, employees made tray after tray of baked eggplant.
Worker Starla Sansom watched the Bettcher Batter Breading machine carefully as she placed sliced eggplant on the conveyor belt and the fruit then dipped through an egg wash and fell into the seasoned bread crumbs.
"It's a joy to work here," said Sansom, 41, who has developmental disabilities. "I like the people and I like the boss. He's a really awesome guy."
Sansom interviewed late last year for a position at Mr. G's Foods through Vocational Rehabilitation's on-the-job training program, which is located at Career Central in Spring Hill.
Participating employers are reimbursed by the state for the trainee's salary, enabling them to train potential employees at no cost to the company.
The training period also allows workers and bosses to decide whether they're a good match for one another.
Guarino was so impressed with Sansom that he hired her full time when the training period ended in March.
"She's a model employee," he said, praising Sansom's attitude, focus and dedication.
In the next room, Pablo Nateo bags 9,000 dough balls a day, carefully checking to make sure each one is perfect.
"Where it would take two people, Pablo does it as one," said Guarino.
Nateo has been with Mr. G's Foods for nearly three years. When he began, he was living at the Holy Ground homeless shelter in Hudson.
Today, he has earned a place on the team at Mr. G's and is no longer homeless.
Guarino's uncle and cousin moved to Florida from New Jersey and started the company in Pasco County in 1985. They began with pizza dough and added the other products over the years. The recipes have been in Guarino's family for decades.
The small family-run company, which moved from its location in Pasco County to Hernando 18 months ago, has hired many people over the years, some through programs like Vocational Rehabilitation. Not everyone works out, Guarino said, but many do.
Giving employees a chance to show what they can do is important to Guarino. When an employee is learning a new aspect of the production line, things sometimes take longer. When this happens, everyone pitches in to catch up.
And no matter who's on the production line, Mr. G's uses good ingredients and makes a consistently high-quality product, Guarino said.
As a result, despite the recession, the food distributor has managed to hold its own.
Plus, it helps that everyone loves Italian food, he said.
Shary Lyssy Marshall can be reached at slmarshall.sptimes@gmail.com.
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