Where We Have Been
At age 19, Ray Rastelli was a husband and father worried about making the rent. In a moment of blind courage and youthful optimism, he rented a tiny storefront in his hometown and gave the area the only thing they didn’t have, a good place to buy premium meats. He called the new business “The Meat Stop”. Ray carefully studied the product and service needs of his customers. As a result, The Meat Stop expanded and Ray’s brother, Tony Rastelli came to work with him. Together, they opened a second location and continued to sell premium meats to customers, including local area restaurants.
Business continued to boom and by 1990, Ray and Tony grew their family business into eight stores throughout New Jersey. As the Rastelli reputation of superior quality foods began to spread, so did the need for a strong distribution system.
In 1995, Rastelli Foods partnered with US Food Service and began national hotel and restaurant distribution. To respond to the rapid expansion, Rastelli Foods opened a 9,000 square foot USDA-Certified processing facility.
Rastelli Foods began exporting food to U.S. military installations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East in 2002. As a primary food provider for the U.S. troops and global food distributor in the Middle East, Rastelli became the largest exporter of well-known U.S. food and beverage brands. In 2003, Rastelli expanded to a 50,000 square foot, state-of-the-art processing plant in Swedesboro, NJ.
In 2005, Rastelli Foods purchased a 110,000 square foot building in Swedesboro, NJ and relocated distribution to U.S. Military Prime Vendors to the facility. The next year, Rastelli Foods became the largest provider of foods and beverages to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. That same year, Rastelli Foods acquired Black Tiger Seafood and began operations of Rastelli Seafood in Egg Harbor, NJ; doubling sales volume in the first year of operations.
In 2007, Rastelli Foods began selling DNA tested beef through “Premium Gold” select cattle ranchers. DNA tested beef is the highest quality and far superior to Certified Angus Beef.
2008 marked the launch of Rastelli At Home, a direct to consumer food delivery service. The online ordering system allows consumers to purchase restaurant quality food at home. In January 2010, the official launch of Rastelli Direct became the next generation of Rastelli At Home; offering a premiere “food-based” network marketing opportunity for home business partners, now known as Rastelli Market Fresh.
Highlights:
- International Supplier Partner of the Year (TGI Fridays)
- Rastelli Market Fresh (Deptford) opens; Replaces original Meat Stop location
2014 was a prosperous year. Rastelli Market Fresh opens its Marlton, NJ location and Rastelli Foods underwent a 50,000 sq. ft expansion.
In 2016 Rastelli experienced their first QVC airing. Definitely the first of many to come. RFG is also named a Top 100 Company by Meat + Poultry.
- RFG is named Processor of the Year by National Provisioner
- RFG wins Family Business Award by The Inquirer
- September 2018 – 5&2 charity launch
- Rastelli’s wins Most Recommended Brand (QVC)
- Rastelli’s wins Best Burger – Black Angus Beef Craft Burger (QVC)
- Egg Harbor Seafood wins Best Seafood – Faroe Islands Salmon (QVC)
- Rastelli’s DTC Launches — March 2019
- RFG is named a Top 100 Processor by Meat + Poultry
- Rastelli’s is named Vendor of the Year (QVC)
In 2021, Rastelli Foods Group has expanded its facility to 185,000 sq. ft.













