Food & Beverage

With Napa Valley and farming communities nearby, many familiar names originate here, including Anheuser-Busch, Jelly Belly, and Caymus Wines. Solano’s rural-urban mix means it has the capacity to support the complete agricultural supply chain, from crop and animal farming and ranching, through support services for agriculture and logistics, machine manufacturing, repair and maintenance; and container manufacturing. Large sites are available for expansion of food and beverage operations. This cluster has a strong location quotient and strong employment.

Overview of Food & Beverage Industry in Solano County

Food & Beverage
2016 Avg. Annual Wages 2016 Avg. Annual Empl 2016 # Businesses 2016 Location Quotient* Regional Gross Product (Output)
$44,524 2,746 65 2.10 $0.81 Billion
* Location quotient (LQ) is a way of quantifying how concentrated a particular industry, cluster, occupation, or demographic group is in a region as compared to the nation. An LQ higher than 1.0 means the region has higher-than-average concentrations of those industry assets.
Source: Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages, Economic Forensics & Analytics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2016.

Food & Beverage Representative Businesses

Food & Beverage Businesses in Solano County (a sampling)
Company Product or Service
Anheuser-Busch Brewery
Guittard Chocolate Chocolate Manufacturers
Jelly Belly Candy Company Candy Manufacturer
Mariani Packing Company Crop Packaging Manufacturer
Superior Farms Company Meat Packing Manufacturers
Valley Fine Food Inc. Frozen Food Manufacturers

Operating Costs, Food Processing

Estimated Operating Costs Comparison of Food Processing industry
Metro Area Employee Payroll Fringe & Mandated Benefits Utilities Building/Lease Payments Property Tax Total
Solano $37,569,944 $11,555,468 $1,779,432 $3,864,499 $894,304 $55,663,647
San Jose $41,380,056 $12,696,941 $1,779,432 $5,872,375 $1,170,633 $62,899,437
San Francisco $42,326,698 $12,983,774 $1,779,432 $6,756,555 $1,254,287 $65,100,746
Source: Applied Economics, October 2016

Food & Beverage Assets, Resources and Industry Groups

These assets are most directly related to Advanced Manufacturing. The broader directory in Resources, highlights resources the benefit a broader spectrum of businesses, including food and beverage producers.

Organizations

More details in Business & Industry Groups.

Bay Area Center for International Trade Development

Bay Area CITD assists businesses in expanding globally and manages the one of the largest state-based export promotion efforts in the United States. Learn more here.

California International Business Association

International business directory for international trade opportunities with California. Learn more here.

California League of Food Processors

IMembership directory, legislative advocacy. Learn more here.

California Manufacturers & Technology Association

Industry advocacy and information, including research and job boards; Membership-based. Learn more here.

Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)

Assists small to medium size companies in developing markets abroad for their products and services. California’s Business Portal provides access to information on international trade and investment. GO-Biz also conducts several trade missions each year in support of California Business. Learn more here.

Solano County Farm Bureau

Advocacy and updates on agricultural issues, networking, and special events. Learn more here.

Solano Grown

Marketing partnership of Solano County farmers and ranchers. Solano County Farmbudsman program (liason between farmers/ranchers and government). Learn more here.

Education and Research

More details in Higher Education.

UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources

Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology emphasizes the molecular mechanisms of dietary nutrients, phytochemicals, and toxicants, training future nutrition and health professionals. Learn more here.

UC Davis Food Science

Specialized food research takes many shapes at UC Davis:

Tax Credits, Financing & Incentives

More details in Incentives.

Manufacturing and Research & Development Equipment Exemption

Manufacturers and qualifying research and development firms may qualify for partial exemption of sales and use tax on purchases and leases of manufacturing and R & D equipment. Learn more here.

Research & Development Tax Credit

Business activities undertaken to discover technological information, and relying on "hard sciences" such as physics, chemistry, and biology may be eligible for significant tax credits. Learn more here.

Workforce for Food & Beverage Industry

Selected Wage Comparison by Occupation
OCCUPATIONS Solano Co Alameda Co Napa Co Sacramento Co San Francisco Co
Wages by Percentile 25% 75% 25% 75% 25% 75% 25% 75% 25% 75%
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations
Food Scientists and Technologists $21.49 $48.29 $24.67 $47.19 $28.13 $26.97 $22.24 $36.84 $31.69 $57.47
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations
First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers $24.06 $32.25 $16.81 $22.96 $19.56 $37.48 $14.20 $32.51 $17.21 $54.20
Agricultural Equipment Operators $13.53 $21.17 n/a n/a $13.17 $15.36 $10.06 $11.96 n/a n/a
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse $9.40 $10.89 $9.55 $15.74 $10.67 $14.21 $9.44 $11.17 $11.42 $14.72
Production Occupations
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers $24.14 $36.32 $21.72 $43.23 $26.06 $42.98 $20.64 $36.23 $23.72 $48.19
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations
First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers $15.66 $28.95 $20.09 $37.41 $18.18 $19.69 $10.99 $21.53 $12.77 $24.44
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand $10.30 $16.47 $11.16 $19.45 $10.74 $16.63 $10.10 $17.40 $11.84 $17.36
Office and Administrative Support Occupations
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks $17.25 $31.23 $21.34 $31.75 $20.25 $29.54 $18.53 $28.53 $23.12 $35.54
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks $13.32 $24.84 $13.78 $21.35 $16.38 $22.97 $11.82 $18.88 $15.37 $23.11
Source: State of California Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division
(www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/) Employment and Wages Occupations, 1st Quarter 2016 data, July 2016. ¹Standard Occupational Code