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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

City Fresh Foods Expands Boston, Massachusetts, Operations

12/20/2022
City Fresh Foods, the only minority- and employee-owned, minority-led food service company, will buy and renovate an 18,000-square-foot building in Boston, Massachusetts. The project is expected to create 85 jobs over the next five years.

The new facility, located at 94 Shirley Street in the Roxbury neighborhood, will allow the company to expand operational capacity from 20,000 meals per day to up to 40,000 meals per day.

“Community feeding takes a village,” said City Fresh Foods Co-Founder and CEO Sheldon Lloyd. “These patient capital partnerships with measurable community benefits are sustainable for lenders, the community, the city and the state. The meals and the money stay here. The MassDevelopment partnership provides City Fresh with the capital for infrastructure allowing a local company like us to grow and compete for local contracts against international conglomerates. This investment is truly a positive for all, growing local health and wealth in communities of color.”

MassDevelopment issued $4 million in loan financing to assist City Fresh Foods.

“This new facility will honor the work and impact that City Fresh Foods’ workers and clients have on Roxbury, Boston, and across the Commonwealth,” noted MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera. “MassDevelopment is proud to help the City Fresh team fulfill its mission of tackling food insecurity and building wealth in underserved neighborhoods with diverse owners and a diverse workforce.”

In addition to MassDevelopment’s financing, City Fresh Foods worked with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, City of Boston, South Shore Bank, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, JP Morgan Chase, The Community Builders, National Development Council, Boston Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Lynch Foundation to raise the needed capital for the new facility. The project funding included equity, debt, New Market Tax Credits, grants, and forgivable patient capital loans, according to state officials.

“City Fresh Foods is a significant local employer in Roxbury whose customers include an impressive network of local nonprofits and community partners,” added Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment’s Board of Directors. “It is terrific to see MassDevelopment support this company with the financing it needs to establish a larger facility, where it can continue to create jobs and impact for greater Boston.”

Founded in 1994, City Fresh Foods has been at the forefront of striving to alleviate food insecurity and improve food equality. The company prepares and delivers fresh and healthy meals for institutional customers such as schools, elder-care organizations, and other health-related clients throughout Eastern Massachusetts.

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