Sonate Corporation

Sonate Corporation was founded in 1975 by Alvin Shipon and was named after his parents, Sophie and Nathan Shipon. In the early 1950’s, Alvin’s parents owned and operated Southern Food Center in South Philadelphia. It was the neighborhood’s go-to supermarket that always specialized in high quality meats and customer service. Alvin eventually took over operations, changed the name to Queen Village Supermarket and expanded on what his parents had built. In 1987, Alvin started a home delivery service for groceries, which looking back now, was years ahead of its time. While the supermarket no longer exists, its history still remains as many people in the surrounding area still refer to the original location as “Sophie’s,” Alvin’s mother’s name.

In 1992, Alvin, along with his business partner Ed Cohen, launched the SHIPON’S brand and became the first manufacturers to market and sell the Philly Style Chicken Sandwich Steak in the foodservice industry. When Alvin and Ed hit the road with this innovative, healthy alterative to the Classic Philly Beef Steak Sandwich, many were apprehensive about the idea and were unsure how the customers would react to such a new take on the Philly Steak Sandwich. However, the two were confident in the potential of this product and continued to go after new business. With time, the product began to take off and is now a staple menu item for pizza shops, steak shops, and restaurants all across the country.

After many years of success with the Shipon’s Philly Sandwich Steak business, Sonate has been able to position itself as brokers for a variety of great tasting food products. The Sonate Brokerage specializes in further processed poultry products, such as tenders, nuggets, patties, etc, and is always looking to expand its already strong product base to bring NEW and UNIQUE items to the market.

As times changed and many consumers’ tastes and preferences began to shift towards even more healthier options, Sonate knew that it had to offer products that would appeal to this need in the market. In 2003, Alvin founded Vegadelphia Foods, which manufactures great tasting Vegan and Vegetarian Food products. Because of Vegadelphia Foods, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has awarded Citizens Bank Park (home of the Philadelphia Phillies) as “The World’s Most Vegetarian Friendly Ballpark” in both 2007 and 2008.

Sonate’s many years of experience, strong relationships, and hard work have made it a valuable resource to the food service and retail industries and hopes to continue its success in the years to come.