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Oli e Aceti 2017

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www.gourmetnews.com 4 Oli e Aceti • Gourmet News www.gourmetnews.com KIMBERLY OSER Publisher JULES DENTON Associate Publishers LORRIE BAUMANN Editorial Director JEANIE CATRON MICAH CHEEK ROBIN MATHER Associate Editors YASMINE BROWN Art Director JONATHAN SCHIEFFER Graphic Designer ANTHONY SOCCI Account Manager SARAH GLENN CAITLYN MCGRATH Customer Service Managers TARA NEAL Circulation Director JAMIE GREEN Circulation Manager Oli e Aceti is a product of Gourmet News, is published by Oser Communications Group ©Copyright 2017. All rights reserved. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher, is expressly prohibited. Executive and editorial offices located at: 1877 N. Kolb Road • Tucson, AZ 85715 T 520.721.1300 • F 520.721.6300 www.oser.com LEE M. OSER JR. Founder OSER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP G OURMET N EWS A G U I D E T O O I L S & V I N E G A R S A ceti O li Importing the Best for Everybody BY LORRIE BAUMANN Mario Fortunato, the co-Founder and CEO of MarDona Specialty Foods, was brought to the U.S from his birthplace in Rome when he was two years old. Today, the man who was once a lit- tle boy growing up in Brooklyn, New York, ded- icates a large part of his ef- forts to bring- ing a bit more of Italy along with him. He and his wife founded MarDona Specialty Foods in 2008. The company imports and sells a va- riety of olive oil and truffle products im- ported from Italy under both the MarDona Specialty Foods and Wild Forest Products brand names. The Wild Forest Products business is ac- tually how Fortunato started making his name in the specialty foods business. That company was founded in 2004, and he'd been the company's business manager, em- ployed by its former owners. Along the way, he and his wife had started MarDona Specialty Foods, working with the philos- ophy that the gour- met taste of truffles ought to be an expe- rience available to a wider range of peo- ple, not something limited to the very wealthy, and when the partners who owned Wild Forest Products decided to go their separate ways, the partner left with the business asked him to take over general management of the company. He agreed and eventually bought out the former owners' interest. For the past decade or so, the two compa- nies have been operating in tandem, but as the relationship has matured, Wild Forest Products has evolved into a brand that's subsidiary to MarDona. The company now imports a wide range of olive oils and truffle products, mainly from Italy, the idea that gourmet indul- gences should be available to everyone has caught on in American culture, and Mar- Dona sells a great deal of truffle-infused olive oil to restaurant chefs who see it as a simple way to upscale a burger and flavor french fries. Today you'll find White Truffle Fries and White Truf- fle Parmesan Fries on the menu at Greensboro, North Carolina's Big Burger Spot, and even Wendy's has exper- imented with adding a truffle burger to its menu. Fine din- ing chefs are also buying Fortunato's truffle oils by the gallon. "The pure oil retains a lot of its fla- vor, and then they finish with the truffle oil and a sprinkling of truffle salt," he says. "It's got a beautiful aroma to it." One of Fortunato's favorite products in the line is an extra virgin olive oil im- ported from Apulia, the southern Italy re- gion that includes the heel of Italy's boot. "It's flavorful and robust. It has a nice olive-y flavor and taste to it," Fortunato says. "It's a regional olive oil that's not blended. It's the actual real thing. It's the pure olive oil from that region." Used as a finishing oil for salads and pasta, for sauteing fish and as a rub on meats, the flavorful oil is very green, with a taste similar to most Greek oils, Fortunato says. He describes it as an oil "for people who know olive oil." MarDona is also known for its range of infused olive oils, which appeal to con- sumers who are making their own dress- ings for salads or an antipasto tray. "Garlic, Blood Orange, Lemon and Basil all do very well for consumers," Fortunato says. "Some people like an oil based pasta rather than a tomato-based pasta, and it works very well." For more information about MarDona Specialty Foods, visit www.mardonaspecialty foods.com, call 855.645.7772 or email info@mardonaspecialtyfoods.com. GN

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