Italian immigrant Domenico DeDomenico moved from Boston to San Francisco in 1895, where he started a small chain of successful grocery stores. After marrying Maria Ferrigno in 1909, DeDomenico helped seven members of Maria’s family immigrate to San Francisco. Having been prominent pasta makers in Italy, the Ferrigno family combined their pasta know-how with DeDomenico’s business knowledge to form Gragnano Products, a pasta company, in 1912.
Inspired by a newspaper ad, the company became “Golden Grain® Macaroni Company” in 1934. The company went on to purchase the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company and the Mission Macaroni Company, along with numerous other well-known food brands.
In 1958, Vincent DeDomenico (son of Domenico), mimicked a neighbor’s rice pilaf recipe in his company’s pasta kitchens using Golden Grain® capellini pasta, rice, and other dry ingredients. And the rest, they say, is history. Half rice and half pasta, or macaroni, Rice-a-Roni was introduced to consumers nationwide.
Since 1912, Golden Grain® has been trusted by generations of families to provide high-quality, delicious pasta, noodles, and macaroni.