Our customer takes home the Best Italian Supplier award!

Humble beginnings

We begin our recipe the same way as any good Italian dish, with patience, care and quality. In the winter of 2018, Just Italian Food’s founder Marco and wife Luana set out on foot, with one goal in mind: “to import the best of Italian food in the British market” and to inspire Italian love past their already thriving Italian customer base. Armed with thousands of flyers and with their young son strapped to their back, the couple hand delivered the word to local residents all over Chelmsford.

Marco modestly states that, “Looking back, all of the hard work has helped us to grow in the long term.” An understatement, considering Just Italian Food was quickly able to open a warehouse in the March of 2019 and open their Waterhouse shop just under a year after their winter leaflet campaign. Marco states that Capital Space proved to be the perfect home for a young business such as Just Italian Foods.

“If you rent a unit on the High Street, the landlord asks for the moon. In my view, this does not help local businesses to grow. Capital Space does the opposite – they want small businesses to start up and they help us grow, as I did. The flexibility to grow makes Capital Space unique.”

Indeed, this flexibility and ability to upsize came in handy for Marco and Luana. Rigorous social media marketing and exhibiting at local food markets meant that, despite the challenges of coronavirus, Just Italian Foods have had to expand both in 2020 and 2021.

Lost in translation

It is undeniable that British love for Italian food is almost as strong as in the motherland, with YouGov states showing that 51% of us saying la bella cucina falls into our top three cuisines; and that pizza sits firmly at number four in our most preferred takeaway rankings.

It comes as a surprise, therefore, that despite English love for Italian food, our knowledge of the cuisine might not always be as in-depth as we would like to think. Marco explains that “The restaurant sector is easier for English customers to understand what they are getting – they know what a bolognaise sauce or lasagne contains.” However, customers often feel overwhelmed when faced with the raw ingredients that make up classic Italian dishes. “We had to educate the market. The packaging on our shelves is not familiar to customers, so we need to explain what the food is about,” says Marco.

It was this level of dedication to customer care, service and satisfaction from Marco, Luana and their four employees that has contributed to their immense success and, ultimately, to their title as Best Italian Supplier.

The sweet taste of success

Capital Space Chelmsford is absolutely delighted with Just Italian Food’s win of such a prestigious award, in what is described as “the toughest contest the country has seen in years.” Marco describes their win as “unreal”, reminiscing on the humble dream that created this journey: “to bring only the best and exclusive Italian food products to Chelmsford.”

This dream has indeed been realised and success tastes even sweeter when we consider the support and recognition of the community that comes with it. Finalists of English Italian Awards are decided entirely by public voting, so Marco states that winning the award brings the assurance that “We are doing something good for the community, which will give us the boost to keep going on this adventure.”