In 35 years, Grecian Delight Foods in Elk Grove Village has sold 1.3 billion Gryros—enough for 18.5 percent of the world's population; they have made 10.5 million gallons of sauces and spreads—enough to fill the Rose Bowl to the rim eight times; and, since 1982, they have made 2.3 billion flatbreads—enough to circle the earth more than 10 times, according to a production standpoint taken by Patricia Dallas of Grecian Delight Foods' marketing department.

Grecian Delight Foods has been celebrating their 35th anniversary since October and will continue to celebrate going in to the New Year. A new baking facility scheduled to open in the Spring of 2010 will make way for 30 to 50 new jobs in the community.

The company is a family-owned Greek and Mediterranean food manufacturer that provides products for 400 distributors across the U.S. and abroad, said President and CEO Peter Perthenis, Jr. 

"Grecian Delight Foods has been on a steady growth path since the business started in 1974," Parthenis, Jr. said. "We've added new product lines and capacity in every decade…Our new baking facility is a testament to the continuing evolution of our brand.”

During its 35-year history, the company has added a bakery, sauce and spread division, specialty meats and prepared entrees and appetizers. The company offers more than 300 items, distributing 90 percent of their products to food services, which account for independent restaurants and national chains.

“Greek Islands Restaurant downtown uses our breads,” Parthenis Jr. said. “9 Muses, which is another popular Greek restaurant downtown, uses our gyros and pita bread.” 

The more local fare of Big Sammy’s fast food restaurant in Elk Grove Village and the Greek Village Taverna in Schaumburg also receive product from Grecian Delights.

The remaining 10 percent of GDF’s consumer-base is retail with the sale of its Opaa! BrandT division of gyro sandwich kits, flatbreads, hummus and spreads to grocery stores.

Greg Coughenour, the purchasing manager of Jason’s Deli in Texas, is a long-time customer of GDF and has been receiving bread products, hummus and baklava from Grecian Delight Foods for more than 10 years.

“They seem to have a good quality product and they’re competitively priced,” Coughenour said. “We also like that they are a family-owned business.” 

Peter Cokinos, the senior vice president of Little Lady Foods in Elk Grove Village, has been receiving flatbread and sauces from GDF for about five years.

“They are an incredibly prompt group,” Cokinos said. “We’re always pleased with them. The organization is incredibly focused and I think that’s the key to their success.”

Even though the company is thriving, expanding in productivity with each passing year, the story behind Grecian Delight Foods is a true testament to the American dream, built from the ground up by one man.

Born and raised in Greece, GDF founder Peter Parthenis Sr. immigrated to the Windy City in 1964 with empty pockets and no family—determined to make something of himself. At 18 years old, Parthenis Sr. waited tables to pay for his college education where he was studying to be an engineer. As a design engineer, he developed a vertical broiler for cooking gyro meat called the AutodonorR, which became a Greek food industry staple.

Parthenis, Sr. began, what first was a gyro meat distribution business by working out of a 20x20 square foot room.

“He was the delivery guy, he was the manufacturing guy, he would take the orders, he did the whole thing himself,” Parthenis, Jr. said. “So that’s really how the company started, with the equipment.”

After 30 years at the helm, Parthenis Sr. handed over the company to his son in 2007.

“It’s not something I always knew I wanted to do 100 percent,” Parthenis Jr. said. “About two or three years into it, I started thinking is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?”

Parthenis Jr.’s wavering attitude toward ultimately taking over the family business came to an end when he realized what was truly important.

“I felt that it was part of my role in this family to continue to grow this business and protect it, because it’s given us all a wonderful life and I believe in what the company does,” Parthenis Jr. said.

Parthenis, Jr. accepted his obligation to his family with open arms and hopes that years from now the business will continue its family-run legacy.

“I’m sure part of my father’s dream is to watch me take over the company and then maybe have my son take over the company,” Parthenis Jr. said. “As long as there are no family conflicts that is the direction we’re heading. We’ve always had a rule that family comes first and business comes second.”

Since the power in the Parthenis family has shifted into the hands of Peter, Jr., the company has continued to take on new business ventures.

“What is was, isn’t what it is now,” Parthenis, Jr said. “What Grecian Delight is, right now, is a leader on the forefront of quality that manufactures Greek and Mediterranean foods. It was a company that was a gyro sandwich manufacturer. Over the last 25 to 30 years, the company did a phenomenal job growing in the food service industry.”

From the beginning, the company facility has grown from 2,000 square feet in 1974 to 330,000 square feet, which includes the new baking facility. The new facility will be in addition to their already functioning 180,000 sq. ft. location, also in Elk Grove Village.

“It’s a good 5 to 7 year plan to get that bakery up to capacity,” Parthenis Jr. said. “This is a platform of growth in a time where we’re taking advantage of the lower cost of entry to acquire the building, where if you were to build it, it would cost three times as much.  So we’re able to take advantage of the marketplace to get in at a lower cost and set a platform of growth for us several years ahead.”

—Story by Kara McGrenera, Triblocal.com reporter