WHO I AM
My story begins long before I was born, in a corner of Umbria where Lake Piediluco reflects the mountains like a silver mirror. There, my great-great-grandfather Giuseppe and great-grandfather Benedetto cultivated wheat, tended vineyards, and raised livestock. It wasn’t just work; it was a dance with the land, a silent dialogue with the seasons. And then there were the olive trees: Leccino and Moraiolo, names as ancient as the soil where they grow. Sharecropping was hard, yet there was a gentle rhythm to life, a deep sense of belonging embedded in our family’s DNA.
Then it was my grandfather Sabatino’s turn—the first to look beyond the mountains and move to the city. A bold choice at the time, yet he never cut his roots. The smell of damp earth, the rustle of olive leaves, the pungent taste of freshly pressed oil: he carried these memories with him, passed them to my father, who passed them to me.
As a child, I would run through the fields with my cousins in the summer, build forts among the trees, and listen wide-eyed to the elders’ stories while sitting on a stone wall. I didn’t know it then, but I was planting seeds that would only sprout years later.
Life’s path follows winding lines, and mine crossed into worlds far removed from that timeless corner of Umbria. Yet, in quiet moments, I’d hear a whisper—a reminder of something more authentic that was waiting for me.
Then there’s the other half of the story, the one that crosses an ocean. It’s the story of my great-uncle Andrea Perticari, who made the bold leap at the end of the 1800s. Beyond his fears, he planted the seeds of what today is a part of our family in the New World. Two cultures, two traditions intertwined over time like the branches of a centenary olive tree. The truth that our company embraces, and the heart of our story, lies in that Italian kitchen—a journey of departure and return, the result of suitcases brimming with hope that crossed the ocean in both directions.
It’s pasta meeting the tomatoes of the Americas, pizza reinvented in New York, only to find its way back to Naples. It’s nostalgia turned to creativity, tradition fused with innovation. Each product tells of the tears of those who left, the joy of those who found a new home, and the sweet surprise of those who, upon returning, discovered they had become someone new. These are the flavors we want to share with you: the flavors of the journey, the flavors of life.