L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano T h e a n n u a l W i n t e r F a n c y F o o d S h o w b y t h e S p e c i a l t y F o o d A s s o c i a t i o n was back in the Bay Area, as the largest marketplace devoted to specialty foods and beverages on the West Coast kicked off, on January 13. It was 1952 when, for the first time, New York City host- ed the just born not-for-profit trade association. Today, with two annual editions between East and West Coasts, it pro- vides almost 4,000 food arti- s a n s , i m p o r t e r s , b u y e r s a n d entrepreneurs worldwide with resources, knowledge, and con- nections in order to be success- ful in the food industry. The show features more than 1,400 companies , exhibiting o v e r 9 0 t h o u s a n d s s p e c i a l t y foods. San Francisco welcomed t h e W i n t e r E d i t i o n , o f f e r i n g t a s t i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s , n e w trends, learning and networking activities. All under the same roof, the Moscone Convention Center. The show presented specialty food companies from every- where in the world. But that' was only one part of the three days program. It also accomo- dated an Incubator Village pre- senting seven food incubators and 41 companies; workshops and business-building seminars to help startups and established manufacturers; the 46th sofi Awards for outstanding special- ty foods and beverages of the year; and the Food Recovery Donation, with exhibitors donat- ing over 37,000 pounds of spe- cialty foods. California led the show with 370 food companies represent- ed, followed by New York and Oregon whereas, from an inter- national standpoint once again, Italy had the largest pavilions, showcasing well-known compa- nies and big brands. The Italian Pavilion opened with the famous taglio del nas- tro (ribbon cutting) by Italian Ambassador Armando Varric- chio and Italian Consul General Lorenzo Ortona. After the kick off, we had a walk around the Pavilion and, after tasting dif- ferent kinds of foods, we picked the ones that took us by sur- prise, either for their innovative approach or by the passion and the hard work behind their pro- duction. W h a t w o u l d y o u m i s s t h e most if you had to spend six m o n t h s i n a s p a c e s h u t t l e ? Tartuflanghe is a company spe- cialized in Italian truffle prod- ucts and is now experimenting foods that can be packaged and SERENA PERFETTO cookies, but also teach how to make them. My daughter is the chemist and my son is the artist for all marketing things. My husband is the Quality Control Man, but I am the boss, the one who makes decision!" What's coming next for the business? "I can proudly say that our most popular cookie is the one with the heart signature filled with jam. However, lately my grand- son and my granddaughter-in- law became vegan and it broke my heart because they could not eat them. We are now working on the same products with a vegan twist." Wondering what's Nonna Fernanda's secret? Pas- sion, of course. Being a family business is a characteristic of many Italian companies in the food industry. Colavita calls itself a "trusted family brand," finding its ori- gins back in 1938 in the small o l i v e m i l l i n t h e v i l l a g e o f S a n t ' E l i a a P i a n i s i , i n t h e Molise region. Giovanni's sons, Enrico and Leonardo Colavita, extended the family business, e x p a n d e d t o t h e U S a n d , i n 1979, they found their first for- e i g n p a r t n e r t o d i s t r i b u t e Colavita olive oil around the world. Mr Leonardo Colavita was at the Food Show, meeting e x i s t i n g a n d p o t e n t i a l c u s - tomers. "Oftentime Italian com- panies asked me how we suc- c e e d e d a t t h i s . N o t e a s y t o explain because that's the story of my life, not only the story of the business. This coming July, we will celebrate 40 years of partnership in the US. Along this journey, we met many com- panies that wanted to replicate what we have done from a busi- ness perspective." And…? "To be honest, it would be much easier for me to tell the story of our business, but here we are talking about a family business story and it is more complicat- ed, maybe more interesting." What makes your business dif- ferent, we asked? "The synergy that exists beyond generations talks to our consumers and we are grateful for that. I keep ask- i n g m y s o n s i f t h e y w a n t t o keep this business alive, and they have no doubts they do. I try my best to push young Ital- ians so they can look for part- ners with whom to build the same relationship. We did it and we were successful, so we b e l i e v e o t h e r s c a n d o t h e same." t a k e n t o t h e s p a c e b y a s t r o - nauts. Their story dates back to the late '60s and the restaurant Da Beppe in Alba, Piedmont, that soon became a must try for its fonduta, bagna caoda, risot- to, and ravioli. The company joined the Fancy Food Show in 1992 in New York to present the Tartufissima, the special pasta combining truffle with porcini mushrooms.That prod- uct brought Tartuflanghe into a scenario where food innovation is welcomed alongside tradi- tion, respect for the environ- ment and sustainability. Paolo Montanaro, President of the Company, said: "We have labs to produce pasta, sauces, and products related to truffle, in additions to products tartufo- based. For example, the encap- sulated white truffle oil; the pesto powder that maintains the original flavour of the fresh genovese pesto, preserving the original characteristics of fresh basil and other ingredients; and t h e 1 0 0 % d e h y d r a t e d w h i t e truffle." And added: "We start- ed by dehydrating truffles and we ended up collaborating with the Spacial Agency from Turin, ARGOTEC, which also works close with the European Space Agency. They decided to pre- sent some of our products to ESA for Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano's mission. One year later, the innovation was used to prepare products for other astronauts, too: we involved some well known cooks, like Massimo Bottura, and started producing special ingredients, like mozzarella, pesto, and sea urchins." What's your latest p r o d u c t , w e a s k e d : " W e a r e now working with olive pits, f r o m w h i c h w e c a n p r o d u c e special bread, so nothing gets w a s t e d w h e n w o r k i n g w i t h these basic ingredients." From innovative foods to traditional torrone.The Barbero Company joined the San Fran- cisco Show for the first time and its owner, Davide Mad- daleno, could not be happier. "We are here to look for new customers, and we already had s o m e g o o d f e e d b a c k . " T h e company is based in Asti and just discovered, thanks to docu- ments found at the municipal archives of Mombercelli d'Asti, t h a t F i l i p p o B a r b e r o w a s a baker at the church of Momber- celli d'Asti already in 1838; at that time, being a baker meant b e i n g a p r o d u c e r o f b r e a d , cakes, biscuits, but also nougat and noasetti (hazelnuts covered with sugar). The official date of the launch of the Barbero com- pany, however, remains 1883, when Melchiorre Barbero asked and obtained the license to sell nougat and noasetti. Two years later, he gained the degree of progress at the fairs of Naples, Turin and Leghorn, and "King Vittorio Emanuele white cross" price for the careful production of his delicious specialties. "We can proudly say that we are a six generations torrone produc- ers. Our first product was tor- r o n e , t h a t k e p t t h e o r i g i n a l recipe that requires almonds but we decided to change them to local hazelnuts. The crumbly t o r r o n e B a r b e r o h a s u n i q u e characteristics as it is a product still produced according to the old recipe of Asti torrone." And ended: "We do also chocolate a n d a d d e d n e w p r o d u c t s , because my grandfather first started the chocolate production in the '60s and we now make products with gianduia choco- late, that our customers love." Old-fashioned recipes are also at the core of a local busi- ness based in the Bay Area. C o o k i e s c o n A m o r e w a s launched in 2015 when Fernan- d a a n d A n g e l o d e c i d e d t o devote themselves to what they love best: cookies. Born in San- t'Elia, South Italy, they shared the love for cookies made by their grandmoms. Their cookies were so delicious that, when a y o u n g m a n i n t h e v i l l a g e popped "the question" to his beloved, the next question was what would Nonna bake for the wedding. Fernanda and Angelo took their love for cookies to California in the 1970s, where they started a family of their own and opened a series of Ital- i a n d e l i s a n d V i l l a R o m a n a restaurant in Laguna Beach. Nonna Fernanda was at the Ital- Foods stand and revealed: "I started the business and called it Cookies with Love but did not sound right to me and changed it into 'con Amore' pretty soon. We started with a small space f o r a f e w o f u s , t h e n w e expanded to the point we have now 50 employees. I still make The best of tradition, innovation, and family business at the 2019 Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY The Barbero Stand at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco

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