Food-processing plants make comeback in Oakland

For the first half of the 20th century, the Bay Area was the world's largest food-processing center, and Oakland, with scores of canneries, cerealmakers, bakeries and breweries became the area's leader - later helping to pioneer branded foods and supermarkets.

Oakland's food prowess waned as companies consolidated and moved away, but the city's edible economy appears to be on the rise and innovating once again.

With help from city-backed incentives and funds, entrepreneurs are tapping into the local demand for healthy, specialized foods as other more traditional companies use Oakland's industrial infrastructure and cheap space to grow.

At a time when most industries in the state are suffering, Oakland's food business - including everything from tofu to doughnuts - appears to be expanding and hiring workers for living wage jobs.

"We're growing what has always been a strength and recognizing that there is a new momentum building in food production," said Margot Prado, industrial specialist in the city's economic development agency. "We have the right-sized space and we are affordable for higher-value manufacturers, whose products cost a little more and are not mass-produced."

In addition to affordable rents, Oakland has a modern seaport and easy access to rail, making importing and exporting more efficient than at many places.

About half of Oakland is part of a state Enterprise Zone, which gives employers tax credits for hiring new workers. The city also provides matching grants for business expansion, which has helped many of the new food companies. Other efforts to attract the industry include city-sponsored tours of food businesses and events, such as the Eat Real Festival at Jack London Square in August.

Eighth in U.S.

Food industry data show Oakland has 29 food manufacturing companies, which is eighth in the United States, ahead of St. Louis, Atlanta and Boston.

But no city data were available on what percentage of Oakland jobs are food production related, and estimates from the Oakland Chamber of Commerce show a modest 1,600-2,000 food manufacturing workers in town. The city also has the second-highest business tax rate in the Bay Area, ranking only behind San Francisco.

Few believe that Oakland can recapture its food heyday, and many recent success stories are part of a trend in which young companies blend environmental and health awareness with higher-end, niche food products. It's hard to know how long the trend will last, how much it can grow and how significant its impact may be on the city's economy.

"This is part of the yuppie food revolution, which has made people more conscious about what they eat and how far it has traveled to their table," said Richard Walker, a geography professor at UC Berkeley, who has written extensively on the Bay Area's role in food production. "People's tastes seem to be changing, but Americans are still very accepting of commercial, standardized foods."

Walker noted that the Bay Area companies influenced that very standardization. He says that Del Monte, which started in San Francisco and had canneries in Oakland, was the nation's leading agribusiness company for most of the 20th century and was one of the first to brand food. Safeway, which moved to Oakland in 1929, went on to be one of the nation's leading supermarket chains. Its headquarters now are in Pleasanton.

A sample of the food and beverage companies recently opening in Oakland shows a bent toward gourmet tastes or environmental, healthy sensibilities, and small- to medium-size production.

Earlier this month, Hodo Soy Beanery moved from San Jose to West Oakland, and gourmet coffee roaster Blue Bottle opened new headquarters near Jack London Square. Revolution Foods, which produces 35,000 healthy and fresh lunches for schools each day, started in Alameda in 2006 and moved into new digs near the airport in April.

Traditional food commodities also are succeeding in Oakland. Veronica Foods is the largest supplier of organic olive oil in the nation and has been in the city for 50 years. Con Agra continues to process flour in town, and just down the street, Dobake Bakeries took over the former Mother's Cookies plant in 2007 and churns out more than 1 million pounds of doughnuts, brownies, muffins and other caloric treats that are trucked as far as Pennsylvania.

Entry-level jobs

Local job placement agencies say the food industry is good for entry-level workers because it requires relatively little training. It also offers opportunities for parolees, who often have experience working in kitchens behind bars.

"A lot of people don't have the time or the money for culinary school, but they can get jobs in production bakeries that pay really well," said Dagmar Schroeder-Huse, executive director of the Bread Project, which trains low-income and unemployed people in the skills needed for entry-level commercial baking and cooking positions.

Schroeder-Huse said that 65 percent of her trainees are from Oakland and that 50 percent of them have had some contact with the criminal justice system.

E-mail Robert Selna at rselna@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle