Watermark Specialty Foods started in the early 1990’s as a manufacturer of Gelato ice cream. The company sold ice cream to restaurants in the Rochester area and had several retail stores where they sold their delicious Gelato ice cream to the public. A pasta manufacturer asked owner, Sorren Ericson, to try and sell his frozen pasta to some of his restaurant customers. It was a big success and the company sold ice cream and pasta and began to add other products. The name of the company was later changed to Watermark Specialty Foods.

More and more product lines were added to the mix and business was good. When Ericson’s interests changed, he sold the business to Pat and Kathy Bernunzio, owners of Leo’s Elite Bakery.    

Pat and his wife, Kathy, had been in the bakery business for 25 years prior to purchasing Watermark Foods and were eager to expand their enterprise. Watermark moved into the bakery building and Leo’s baked goods were added to the product line.

Shortly after, Bob Randisi, sales manager for Alliant Foods, came on board and the product line was significantly expanded.

Sam DiPerna, a lifetime food service professional, joined the company in 2004 and has been responsible for even more growth.

In 2008, the Bernunzio’s built an 8,000 square foot addition to the building that included a 2,000 square foot freezer to meet the needs of the growing business.    

Company sales have increased more than 400 percent and are expected to double by 2010. Watermark serves customers in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and the Southern Tier.