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Kozy Shack Pudding Tycoon Dead at 67
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 11, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 11, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
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Vincent Gruppuso, the pudding cup king of Long Island, passed away recently, leaving his multimillion dollar Kozy Shack Enterprises behind. The 67 year old dessert tycoon had spent his life turning his tiny, one-man operation into a multinational operation employing 400 employees at three plants in Hicksville, California and Ireland. Last year the company sold over 115 million cups of pudding and pastries. Cause of death? Diabetes.
The Brooklyn-born Grupposo started out in the ‘60s as a bread delivery man with a side business delivering creamy rice pudding from a Cozy Shack delicatessen on Seneca Avenue. When demand for the pudding outstripped the bread, he bought the recipe, put the K in Kozy, and went into business for himself as a manufacturer. By the end of his life, his company was netting $140 million a year; not to shabby for the son of a construction worker.
Are you a Kozy Shack Konnoisseur? And what's the verdict on their flan?
Tagged
brooklyn
california
Flan
hicksville
Kozy Shack
long island
obituary
rice pudding
The Brooklyn
Vincent Gruppuso
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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