Finalists
Fairway Packing, Fraser
Dykema, Detroit
Gensler, Detroit
The burgers Detroit Tigers fans enjoy at Comerica Park are produced by Fairway Packing, a longtime Eastern Market-based business whose recent growth required the company to develop a 35,000-square-foot facility in Fraser and move from its 6,000-square-foot facility in Detroit.
Grosse Pointe-based Allegra Development, owned by John Secco, was the builder. The company completed its move into the new facility last November.
“We needed a much larger facility,” says Emmet Baratta, owner of Fairway Packing. “It allowed us to equip the facility in the way we did, with the latest and greatest state-of-the-art equipment.”
That equipment includes a massive burger grind operation and a laser-cutter for steaks. The new facility, located along 15 Mile Road, has enabled the company to expand its employee base to 106 workers from the 46 people it had in Eastern Market.
“The past year has opened up a tremendous amount of opportunity for us,” Baratta says. “We’ve been able to take on stadium business such as Little Caesars Arena and Comerica Park, and we’ve been able to open up our distribution partners to get regional chain business.”
Fairway is the supplier for burgers at two locations in Comerica Park — the 313 Grill and the Marketplace area behind the scoreboard in left field.
The opportunities have allowed Fairway to expand not only throughout the state of Michigan, but into Ohio and other parts of the country.
“It’s allowed us to ramp up our burger production,” Baratta says. “We’ve always had a really good burger, and we’ve had some of the best grinds in the business.”
Fairway has recently tripled its burger production to more than 100,000 pounds of hamburger a week. It also offers a wide range of steaks, chops, pork, lamb, veal, and both Wagyu and Piedmontese beef, among other selections.
The company had been in Eastern Market since 1986, although its family roots in the meat industry date back to 1956, when Baratta’s grandfather opened his first meat processing business in the city.
