Q – Mr. Ricketts, is the Founder of Mids still alive today? A – No. Q – He founded the co. in 1938? A – Right. Q – Are you related to him in any way? A – No. I bought it from the family 10 years ago. Q – So, how did he start this co. in the Canton, Ohio area? A – He came over here from Sicily and he brought his mother’s recipes for Sicilian pasta sauces. He opened a little restaurant. His name was Midio Octavio,…
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Leading the way in pizza franchises is Captain Tony’s Pizza and Pasta Emporium. Headquartered out of DeLand, Florida we spoke with Captain Tony’s President and C.E.O. – Mr. Michael Martella. Q – Michael is there a real Captain Tony or is that a made-up name? Are you Captain Tony? Where does that name come from? A – My father’s name is Tony. He was in the Navy years ago, so it just came up Captain Tony. Q – I see you have a Captain Tony’s Pizza in Rochester, N.Y. but…
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Launched just over two years ago, Dreamfields Pasta is now available in more than 15,000 supermarkets. What makes Dreamfields so special you might ask? Well, its health-promoting pasta with authentic pasta taste and texture, made with high quality wheat semolina. It has twice the fiber of regular pasta, is naturally cholesterol free and has zero grams of trans fat. Mike Crowley of the Dreamfields Co. which makes Dreamfields Pasta talked with us about the rise of Dreamfields Pasta. Q – Mike, what is your title in the co.? What are…
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Continuing our look at pasta sauces, we focus on what has become a “New Haven Original”—–Palmieri Pasta Sauces, just part of Palmieri Food Products. To tell the story of the co. we interviewed Patrick Palmieri. Q – Patrick, it was your grandmother that started a family grocery store in New Haven? A – Yeah. They (grandmother and grandfather) had a little grocery store on Crown Street in New Haven, in 1920. My grandmother told me the way the sauce came about was she would always be selling fresh vegetables. If…
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Lou Malnati got his start in the pizza business in the 1940’s, working alongside his father Rudy in Chicago’s first deep dish pizzeria. Lou opened his first shop—–Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria on March 17 th 1971, and the business was off and running. There are now some 24 Malnati’s pizzerias located in the greater Chicago area. Lou passed away in 1978, but, his wife and sons have carried on. We talked with Mindy Kaplan, Director of Marketing about the history of Lou Malnati’s. Q – Mindy, what makes Malnati’s Pizza so…
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It’s a St. Louis landmark. Opened in 1964, by Ed and Margie Imo, Imo’s Pizza quickly became “the” pizza to order. Now, 56 years later (2020) Imo’s Pizza has grown by leaps and bounds. Here to talk about a true American success story is Kelly Imo, who married into the Imo family by marrying Carl Imo, one of founders Ed and Margie Imo’s sons. Q – Kelly, are Ed and Margie Imo still alive? A – They absolutely are and both are in fantastic health. They both live here in…
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It all started in her family’s restaurant, pasta sauce that brought a smile to the faces of everyone who tasted it. And today that pasta sauce is available in almost 2000 stores in 44 states. The sauce we are talking about is Pirro’s. Brianna Pirro spoke with us about Pirro’s sauce. Q – Brianna, I see your sauce made its way onto the shelves at Price Chopper in Syracuse, New York. Now, how is it determined what stores you’ll sell your pasta sauce in? How do you know what…
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