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Frozen-food magnate still warms to the venture

At 88, the man who created Jeno's pizza rolls works at least five days a week managing a lucrative empire.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published January 7, 2007

SANFORD - Jeno Paulucci may not know much, but he does know food.

He sees the world through a microwave oven - through ravioli, chicken marsala and pot roasts ready in moments, and through stomachs run empty by busy schedules.

You may never have heard of him, but he's probably been feeding you and your family for decades.

Even at 88 years old, the frozen-food mogul whose lines include Michelina's and Budget Gourmet is peddling products all over the world. He recently began shipping to Russia, and is poised soon to hit the Chinese market. Paulucci is starting a line of appetizers called Bundinos, which are frozen buns filled with turkey or pizza ingredients.

"I try to keep ahead of the timing," Paulucci said. "Wherever there's a microwave, I believe we should have our product."

It began with Chun King lo mein in the 1940s and mushroomed into pizza and pasta lines. He is perhaps best known for his namesake Jeno's pizza rolls, though he sold that company to General Mills in 1985 for some $150-million and a big load of regret.

"I should've kept the pizza roll. It's something that'll d--- near live forever," he said.

Born three decades before anyone had a home microwave, Paulucci has made a fortune producing meals for the now-ubiquitous appliance. He works at least five days a week micromanaging a lucrative empire called Centuria Group, Inc., splitting time between his native Minnesota and modest "international" headquarters in Florida. Besides the food lines, Paulucci has a chain of small banks (Republic) and numerous Florida real estate holdings.

Paulucci grew up on the frigid Iron Range, the son of an immigrant miner. He was constantly teased for his heritage, prompting him in 1975 to found the Italian American Foundation - "so that if you made a few dollars somebody wouldn't ask what syndicate you belonged to."

He sprinkles in more than a few mild profanities when he talks.

Paulucci started his Chun King business in 1944 with a $2,500 loan, and sold it to R.J. Reynolds less than two decades later for $63-million. He says he has started around 70 companies, some more successful than others. Paulucci tries to build them up, sell them off and then start building another.

Though still designing new entrees, Paulucci hasn't been to the grocery store in a decade. He says he has never touched a computer, and prefers that employees use e-mail only if there's no other option.

Paulucci is 5 feet 4 and rough-spoken, with a sandpaper voice. Sometimes soft Minnesotan vowels seep through, on "oh" or "go."

He sure holds a grudge. He started a pie-filling company in 1950 specifically to drive a former business partner bankrupt.

(He lost money selling at drastically cut rates, but forced his competitor to do the same until he went out of business).

Unconventional ideas

Some of Jeno Paulucci's thoughts about labor:

- He's stridently pro-union.

- He says the country is long overdue for a minimum-wage increase.

- He has made a practice of hiring criminals and the disabled.

- He thinks businesses should give up to 5 percent of pretax profits for community projects, and those who make more than $100,000 a year should pay at least an extra percent or two in taxes.

[Last modified January 6, 2007, 20:08:49]