L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Florindo's son, Joe, during our interview. Florindo went for the American Dream and reached his brother in San Francisco travel- ling by boat and train. The two Marchinis', together with their friend Carlo, ended up f o u n d i n g t h e G i a m p a o l i - Marchini Company. As a result, Joe was raised helping his father in the farm. Carrying on the family tradition, J o e b e c a m e a n a g r i c u l t u r a l expert and eventually founded the J. Marchini Farms together with his son Jeff. The inspiration for creating the new company came after a trip Joe took to Italy. "I was impressed with the tight ball radicchio. When I was a kid, my father grew radicchio but it was leafier, I had never seen radicchio in a ball," Joe writes. As soon as he put eyes on those, he knew growing radic- chio in California would have been a smart business choice. There was no domestic market for it in the U.S. So he decided to pursue it and brought some seeds back home. A t f i r s t , J o e w a s g r o w i n g radicchio in his own garden. "It all started as a hobby," he writes. "[…] hardly anyone in the U.S knew about radicchio. It was all imported from Italy and for the West Coast terminal markets & s a l a d p r o c e s s o r s i t w a s t o o expensive due to shipping." Mr. Radicchio is now incredi- b l y p o p u l a r a n d i s e x p o r t e d around the world, also to Italy. Why would the Californian grown radicchio be exported to I t a l y ? I a s k e d m y s e l f . J o e explained me that this is to help with a shortage, or in the off-sea- son for European salad proces- sors (bagged salads.) T h e M a r c h i n i s ' e n d e d u p turning weakness into strength. When Joe first brought the I t a l i a n s e e d s t o t h e G o l d e n Coast, he didn't consider the cli- mate differences between the two areas. In fact, he had a hard time growing the salad properly. Jeff & Joe had to try out a vari- ety of seeds before figuring out the right supplier. Aside exporting international- ly, Mr. Radicchio is now grown in three Californian regions, as well as Mexico. Joe writes that the radicchio demand is very steady today. But looking at how little people knew about radic- chio at first, how did this hap- pen? How did a hobby turn into such a prolific business? From growing radicchio in his own garden, Joe started taking boxes full of the read-and-white salad balls to small Italian gro- cery stores & restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. "Soon orders came in and we started selling. Then in the 90s, the bagged salad took off. Fresh Express (the U.S salad proces- sor) contacted us to supply radic- chio for their Italian blend […] The salad was a success because t h e c o n s u m e r s l o v e d s e e i n g radicchio in replacement of pur- ple cabbage," writes Joe. J. Marchini Farms is today a year round radicchio supplier thanks to transplant planting and shed packing. Joe is pleased with t h e r e s u l t s a n d i s e v e n m o r e proud to see how the company still keeps family to its core. A part founding J. Marchini Farms with his son Jeff, family generations are involved. Joe's oldest grandson helps with post- harvest production. The second grandson is in charge of pre-har- vest production and his oldest granddaughter takes care of sales and marketing. "I have seven more grandchildren and would love for them to join," writes Joe. What a better way to carry on Italian traditions? Continued from page 1 The Marchini family

• Cover