The Gourmet Center, Inc. at 465 Green St, San Francisco, is the registered U.S. distributor of Biscoff cookies, operating as an understated but long-running import business whose public-records footprint and logistical arrangements raise more questions than the building reveals.

The Biscoff Wrapper Points to Green Street. That's Where the Story Gets Quiet. By Casey Wong, Neighborhoods

On the 400 block of Green Street in North Beach, a building with a high façade gives little away. But a closer look at the wrapper of a ubiquitous travel snack—the Biscoff cookie, standard issue on Delta Airlines flights—reveals this unassuming address as home to its long-running U.S. distributor: The Gourmet Center, Inc. For over four decades, this quiet corner has been a critical, if unseen, link in the journey of the caramelized Belgian biscuit from overseas bakeries to airline trays.

The Gourmet Center, Inc. is a real and apparently durable company, registered at 465 Green St, San Francisco, CA 94133. Dun & Bradstreet, an official source for business information, lists its founding in 1982 and an employee count of 1. However, LinkedIn indicates the company size as 2-10 employees. The company holds active federal trademarks for "GOURMET CENTER" covering baked goods, including pastries, biscuits, and cookies, according to filings compiled by Justia.

While the company is firmly planted in San Francisco, customs import records, obtained via Panjiva, paint a more complex logistical picture regarding its supply chain. These records show biscuit shipments from Lotus Bakeries, the Belgian manufacturer of Biscoff, being handled by a "Lotus Bakeries North America Inc." from an address at 50 Francisco St, San Francisco, CA 94133. The consignee for these shipments is often listed as "Lotus Bakeries North America C/O" a Phoenix, Arizona address (2021 East Jones Ave). This suggests that while The Gourmet Center, Inc. is based in San Francisco, the actual import and primary distribution of Lotus Bakeries products might involve a separate, related entity with a Phoenix logistics hub, underscoring a sophisticated, multi-location operation that is not immediately apparent.

What physically happens at 465 Green St remains largely obscured. Public records do show that the same address hosts at least one other food-related concern, Yin Du Wonton Noodle Inc., which received a $30,101 PPP loan in 2021, retaining six jobs. However, no direct connection between Yin Du Wonton Noodle Inc. and The Gourmet Center, Inc. is established in available records.

Adding to the mystery, a search of publicly available Department of Public Health (DPH) permit databases returned no active food facility permit for 465 Green St. This absence does not automatically indicate a violation, as the business might operate under a variant name, or qualify differently, but it leaves the compliance picture incomplete.

What is established is a company, incorporated over four decades ago, with active trademarks and a documented European import relationship, whose San Francisco address is most publicly known through a small, sweet airline snack. Walk past 465 Green St, and you won't see a sign or any outward indication of a significant import business. Instead, you'll see a building doing its best not to be noticed — which, apparently, is precisely how this operation has preferred it.