Our Producers

The Fois family olive farm was established in Alghero in Sardegna at the start of the 1900s and has been producing olive oil for 4 generations. Today Accademia Olearia is managed by Giuseppe Fois and his sons with precision, dedication and passion from cultivation to the finished product. The farm consists of more than 200 hectares of land with over 25,000 olive trees of which the cultivar is predominantly the Bosana olive. The harvest of the olives is carried out by mechanical means directly from the tree, just before the moment of full maturation. It takes place from mid-October until the end of December. The olives are pressed in a state-of-the-art plant in a continuous cycle, within 12 hours after they are harvested. RITROVO  has chosen the vibrant, award-winning Giuseppe Fois Grand Cru Olive Oil from a range of olive oils presented by Sardegna’s Accademia Olearia, to add a new regional flavor of the Bosana olives. We have chosen their best olive oil in keeping to the highest quality standards of all the extra virgin olive oils designated as RITROVO SELECTIONS™.

• 2013 sofi™ Gold Award -
Outstanding Pasta Sauce: Due Formaggi
• 2012 NASFT Gold Award -
Outstanding Pasta Sauce: Puttanesca
• 2009 NASFT Silver Award -
Outstanding Pasta, Rice or Grain: Pannochie
• 2005 NASFT Gold Award -
Outstanding Condiment: Truffle & Salt

Nicola DeLaurentiis and his wife Paola have energized their modest artisan enterprise with a new, up-to-date facility. Their dedication to maintaining a high level of quality, innovation, and aesthetic appeal has won accolades from international and domestic connoisseurs. Be it ‘art-in-a-jar’ instant antipasto, extra virgin olive oil, or their “...& salt” line, everything from Casina Rossa’s kitchen proves to be a sheer delight and an instant best-seller.

• 2018 sofi™ Silver Award - Outstanding Savory
Appetizer, Soup, Stew: White Beans with Truffle
• 2010 NASFT Silver Award - Outstanding Pasta
Sauce: Pasta Sauce with Alba White Truffle

Ciacco is a small scale, regionally focused producer from the village of Carr , near Alba - a city world-famous for its regional cuisine. Each of their products is made in small batches according to time-tested recipes using precious local ingredients such as Alba white truffle and Barolo red wine. Careful attention is paid to sourcing, and to maintaining freshness and homemade goodness. Ciacco is a first choice for lovers of Piedmontese cuisine.

About Richard

Richard’s passion for food was fostered at a young age. Growing up in Provence his family lived sustainably, growing their own produce and purchasing from local family farms. Mealtimes were the centerpiece of the day and exposed him to a colorful array of flavors and ingredients from all over the world.

Descended from a long line of artists, Richard’s combined background of food and art has been the driving force behind Entube and its mission to not only create delicious, healthy food but also bring the beauty of color to the table.

After two successful decades in the advertising and entertainment industries, working with brands ranging from Nike to the Rolling Stones and receiving dozens of awards for his work, Richard returned to his first love - food. He launched Entube in November 2015.

Fior di Maiella’s Mirko Di Crescenzo has long been sourcing the highest quality ingredients for producers throughout Abruzzo. These USDA Certified Organic grains reflect his careful attention to locating superior quality Italian heritage products. They are simply a joy to prepare; whether when making favorite traditional dishes or inspired creations.

Thoughts of a HLTHPUNK

Look to the chaos, unbridled by our obsession for order and control. There you will find ideas rejected, the misfits and the freaks, but it is also there that you will find sparkles of genius.

For us it’s more than just a sauce in a tube. Globally, we’re more aware than ever that our actions have a tremendous impact on all of our health and well-being. We set out to create flavor-forward modern pantry staples that contribute to a much bigger picture. We don’t strive to be in every kitchen but we think we may be as the stuff is blooming delish 😉 We aspire to create a culture of awareness and empower you to make food choices that support and sustain your sweet, sweet body and the world we live in.

Growing up, my parents lived close to the earth. They were artists, chefs and farmers who believed that healthy diets and a loving environment were all that their children needed to live a rich fulfilling life.

After a successful career as a designer in the film industry I rediscovered my first love of art and food. With some good friends we created a little company called Entube, delivering a line of clean, intensely flavored chili pastes in an iconic silver tube. Entube became a darling in gourmet food circles, winning a much coveted SOFI award for our rich intensely flavored Harissa paste loved by chefs and home cooks alike.

Soon we found that the traditional condiment market was ripe for a punk revolution. The new health conscious consumer was looking for sustainable, delicious, plant based, innovations, with a focus on the wellness of our society.

From the very ethos of my childhood, Hlthpunk was born.

Richard J Lassalle

• 2005 - NASFT Silver Award - Outstanding Best Seller: Croxetti Pasta
• 2002 NASFT Silver Award - Outstanding Savory

The origins of “La Bella Angiolina” go back centuries. Still faithful to local traditions, Luca Bastieri and family use top quality ingredients to recreate traditional favorites in the sundrenched Italian Riviera. One such product is their Taggiasca olives, some of which come from trees over 400 years old. La Bella Angiolina products, including their wonderful pasta line, are superb and customers choose them time and time again. These flavors are Italy at its best.

Translates literally to “The Last Oven”, this line of artisan foods are produced by a dedicated, four-family consortium in the Basilicata city of Matera. As evidenced by the trade name, elegant visual aesthetic, and full, extraordinary flavor, each product of the L’Ultimo Forno line exemplifies both unparalleled quality and sense of place. Lucania, the territory in which Matera is located, has long been known as the bread basket of Italy. The unique flavor and structure of Matera bread owes to the character of Lucano grano duro wheat, regarded as one of the world’s finest and purest grain cultivars. For thousands of years this wheat has been cultivated by the same environmentally respectful principals. It is neither genetically modified nor treated by chemicals of any kind. For tens of centuries, Lucano grano duro has been milled and transformed into bread
and other unique products in Matera, a UNESCOprotected site and one of the ten oldest cities in the world.

For five generations Le Ferre has carefully tended their olive groves, on ancient acreage in the rural area of Castellaneta (Taranto, Puglia), a flourishing valley nestled between the Ionian Sea and the hills leading into the many parks along the “heel” of Italy’s boot. Brothers Luca and Giuseppe Esposito began updating their production in 2005, and have brought their fields and facilities in step with state-of-the-art techniques and equipment. RITROVO  is pleased to include Le Ferre into our product line, and excited to present to you their selection of exceptional extra virgin olive oils..

• Voted 96 out of 100 points in the esteemed Flos Olei 2011 Guide to the World’s Best Extra Virgin Olive Oils by Marco Oreggia
• Voted one of the Top EVOO Farms and a “Made with Love” Olive Oil

Antonino Mennella is a passionate young extra virgin olive oil producer from the Salerno area of Campania. With his small 2000-tree farm, he produces our limited edition Raro (“rare”) extra virgin olive oil from a blend of pitted or “denocciolati” Ravece and Rotondella olives. He uses advanced pressing and processing technology to provide an extra virgin olive oil with double the average content of polyphenol antioxidants and an astoundingly low level of free oleic acid; almost the same level of freshness as an olive still on the tree.

• Awarded the Zurich-Based “Golden Olive Award”
• Outstanding Ratings by “The Slow Food Guide to Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oils”

The Marino Family produces a superb organic monovarietal extra virgin olive oil from their own trees near the southeastern Sicilian city of Ferla, in the vaunted Monte Iblei zone. In addition to hand-tending their own tonda (‘Ferlese’) olives, Katia and Maurizio Marino gather wild rosemary and other herbs, and tend citrus trees and beehives to create a humble yet incredible line of regionally-inspired products.

Michele Ferrante is a one-of-a-kind grower of Italian heritage products. On his small farm outside of Salerno in Campania, Ferrante produces heirloom and unique varietal beans,
grains, peppers, and spices. Once only available locally, RITROVO  is proud to be able to bring our customers these true farm-to-table specialties. From his Controne beans that don’t need soaking, to oregano still on the branch, and hand ground hot pepper that adds depth of flavor and a subtle heat to any dish, these are products that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. It’s not only the flavor but the performance that make regional foods like this so special. Check out the rest of the Ferrante specialties in the Grains and Legumes section and find out for yourself why we’re all Ferrante fanatics here at RITROVO !

Just half an hour’s drive east-southeast from Trieste in northeastern Italy, the Piran saltpans are situated in a national park and nature preserve of southern Piran, on Slovenia’s Adriatic coast. These saltpans, comprising an interconnected series of shallow, lagoon-like basins, are where the pristine, salt-rich waters of the northern Adriatic are allowed to enter, evaporate, and be hand-harvested. The Piran saltpans are among the longest-functioning artisan saltpans in Europe, providing healthy, flavorful salt for over seven centuries.

During our research in Slovenia we found that these salts were magnificent, at every price point. Their sweet flavor derives from high mineral content and low levels of otherwise bitter Sodium Chloride (NaCl). Of special note: Piranske Soline’s highest quality salt, known as ‘Salt Flowers’ (wordplay involving description of the delicate, flower-like structure of each ‘grain’) literally melts into food.

• 2002 NASFT Silver Award - Outstanding Product Line
• 2001 NASFT Gold Award - Outstanding Pasta, Rice, Bean, or Soup: White Bean Appetizer

Radici of Tuscany’s Sandra Masi and her husband Viviano Venturi are true farmer producers. Their inspired line of Tuscan organic products is internationally acclaimed for its introduction of heirloom treasures to the world market. Their heritage products such as Costoluto and Canestrino tomatoes, ‘Giant’ basil from the Arno valley, and white beans from the hills above Loro Ciuffenna represent the ultimate Italian table. The Masis’ collaboration with RITROVO  has transformed local Tuscan dishes into ‘Ready-to-eat’ formats, which has earned them three NASFT statues and page after page of accolades from the U.S. specialty food industry and international publications. All Radici of Tuscany products are certified organic, picked at the height of freshness, and sourced locally or from their farm and produced in season.

• 2009 NASFT Gold Award - Outstanding Vinegar

In Soliera, Province of Modena, in the rich, alluvial zone of Lambrusco di Sorbara, the Maletti family has been producing quality Lambrusco wine for generations. Their success notwithstanding, young Davide Maletti has decided to blaze a new path for his family in producing an excellent aged Balsamic of Modena from the wine and grape musts of select Lambrusco and Trebbiano varietals. Tasters misjudge this balsamic as being a 10, 12, or even a 15-year Balsamic. That isn’t just because it is made from carefully chosen basic ingredients, without additives of any kind, but also because of the closely guarded techniques which govern its aging. The balsamic also undergoes an accelerated yet regulated evaporation in former wine barrels of French Allier oak, resulting in a density and depth of flavor, intense aromaticity, and a clean delicateness of finish that belies its age and price. As one of our surprised Italian customers exclaimed, “... but it drinks like a 10-year!”

Tommaso’s olive oil is made exclusively with the the Intosso olive varietal. This olive was once very profitable to the inhabitants in and around Casoli and the surrounding mountain foothills, commanding high prices particularly for table olives. Now, however, the market has been drastically reduced due to competition from other Mediterranean countries, and much of the harvest is used for non-specified mixed varietal oils. Tommaso is helping give back value to this variety and prevent its gradual replacement by non-native varieties that are more productive and simpler to manage.

• 2018 sofi™ Award - Outstanding New Product - Vinegar
• 2015 sofi™ Gold Award - Outstanding Vinegar
• 2014 sofi™ Silver Award - Outstanding USDA-Certified Organic Product

Based in Modena, Italy, VR Aceti pairs cuttingedge techniques with organically farmed ingredients to create their line of USDA Certified Organic Balsamic Vinegars. These vinegars are rich and flavorful with a mild acidity. Their exquisite balance reflects the care taken in blending and aging, and the purity of their source ingredients.