Fortuna’s Sausage & Online Italian Market has all of the ingredients for a heartfelt, modern family business, made in the USA with Calabrian roots.
“We use my grandparents recipes, and we pioneered the movement to use all natural ingredients without nitrates, GMOs or other unnatural ingredients in our sausages, salamis, pepperonis and other cured meats in the 1990s,” says Patti Fortuna, the third-generation owner of her family’s business. “My Nani and Papa emigrated to America from Calabria more than a century ago, bringing their dreams and their amazing recipes.”
Fortuna’s uses the most basic recipe with the freshest, wholesome ingredients: meat they grind themselves, cheese, wine, and seasonings like Calabrian hot peppers. Packed into casings, everything air dries naturally for six to 12 weeks—no ominous ingredients!
That said, Patti, her husband Paul, and son Chris aren’t merely cranking out Nani and Papa’s Calabrian classics.
Expanding With Care and Forethought
“We go to Italy every year,” Patti says. “We are constantly working on new Italian specialties and improving what we’re doing, almost to a fault. We have such a passion for what we do. We know our customers and they know and trust us to pick out the best Italy has to offer.”
Long before it was trendy, part of Fortuna’s mission has been to use ingredients grown humanely and in small batches: from the pork they source, to the lines of pastas, artisan cheeses, olive oil, and nitrate-and-preservative-free pantry staples they import from Italy.
“We saw a niche, and we wanted to fill it,” Patti explains of their decision to launch an importing arm six years ago. “Every year we go to Calabria, where my grandparents came from. We’ve developed a real community there, and the quality of the artisanal food being made there and in other regions of Italy is so incredible, we just had to share it with the world.”
Fortuna’s offers all of their wares online, and offers free shipping for orders over $99.95.
“We’re fast and reliable, but very mom-and-pop,” Patti says. “Our customer service is not staffed by robots like others. It’s literally me, in the warehouse, processing the online orders, ensuring they get packed correctly, and shipping them to your door. I read every single message, and I even have a few favorites printed out and posted at my desk, including one from a woman to her father, that says, ‘Dad, you cured so many of my problems, I hope you can enjoy some cured meats from me.’”
Patti and her family’s love of quality and ethically produced goods naturally includes their own backyard. As Vermonters (they moved to the Green Mountain state from Rhode Island) they have a plethora of options to choose from.
“We started a pop-up in Manchester for the holiday season, and it was so popular, we decided to make it permanent,” Patti says of The Italian Market of Manchester, VT. “My son Chris purchased it from us to run as a separate entity, but because we’re a family business, we’re all connected. He carries all of our products, and incredible local Vermont cheeses and products.”
Patti admits that she had mixed feelings about relinquishing the retail store, but says that sharing the responsibility for the business is the only way to continue to scale up, without missing a beat in terms of quality or customer service.
When Men’s Journal dubs you “Top Sausage” and your trademark Soupy Salami is touted by the nation’s leading chefs and food critics (The Los Angeles Times calls them simply, “America’s Best”), you could rest easy at night. But that’s not how they do it at Fortuna’s.
Patti’s husband, Paul Stannard, is looking to expand their salami offerings. “Paul is a salami master. He can identify flavors like no one else,” Patti says. “He’s perfecting a new salami that is really unique and unlike anything else out there. It will be coming out shortly, and we can’t wait to share it!”
(Patti is not speaking figuratively by the way. A Master Salumiere oversees the entire process of creating salami, from recipe and ingredient creation, to fermenting and curing. The process requires a keen sense of flavor and artistry, but also—especially sans industrial-style preservatives—a scientist’s eye for consistency and safety).
Paul’s new salami will, of course, be available by mail order and at The Italian Market in Manchester, VT. In the meantime, whether you’re looking for Soupy Salami, Coppa, Guanciale, Calabrese Chili Peppers in Oil, Muffuletta, Trofie pasta … or anything else delicious, Italian, especially Calabrian, and made with ingredients you can pronounce, Patti and Fortuna’s are ready. They can’t wait to pack it up and send it directly to your door, pronto!
