It Tastes Like Italy, but It’s Made Here

Stefano, tell us a bit about yourself. What has your entrepreneurial journey been like?

We’re talking about my grocery products, right? It all started when I was a spokesperson for IGA alongside Christian Bégin and Josée Distasio (do you remember the little avatars in the commercials?). At the time, I was attending a lot of events, and one day a Sobeys advisor suggested: “Why don’t you develop your own grocery products, Stefano?” The idea definitely didn’t fall on deaf ears.

Since my mother, Elena Faita, and I were already producing canned tomatoes for the family store, the idea of selling our jars of tomato sauce had crossed my mind before. So the suggestion from the Sobeys representative felt like confirmation that I had to give it a try. With my business partner, Michele Forgione, we sat down to map out a game plan, and nine months later we launched our four tomato sauces: tomato basil, marinara, arrabbiata, and rosé.

After our first year on the Québec market, our sauces expanded across Canada through the Sobeys chain. Following that success, new opportunities emerged. We broadened our product lineup with frozen pizzas, a hazelnut-cocoa spread, tiramisù, sausages, and meatballs—all verified by Aliments du Québec.

In your opinion, what sets your journey apart from that of other entrepreneurs?

First and foremost, it was essential that I felt 100% aligned with the opportunity being presented to me. In the past, I had been approached for certain projects, but I chose not to move forward because they didn’t reflect who I was at that time. Naturally, when I was asked to create food products—especially tomato sauces—it felt like a logical continuation of my life: I’m a restaurateur, I cook on television, I sell kitchen tools for making homemade tomato preserves… everything lined up.

If someone had approached me to create a BBQ sauce, for example, I would have said, “That’s not me—I’m not a barbecue sauce guy!” But tomato sauce? Absolutely! 

We can confirm tomato sauce is a winner! That said, did you feel pressure as a well-known chef developing ready-to-cook grocery products?

Absolutely! Your products are scrutinized closely when you’re already known for your recipes. I’ll admit that pressure pushed me to be extremely disciplined. I had no choice but to develop a tomato sauce worthy of my roots—and I believe we succeeded! 

Now let’s talk about buying local. Why is local purchasing at the heart of your company’s philosophy?

No matter what product we develop, we always ask ourselves: “Are all the ingredients available in Québec?” If for some reason that isn’t possible, we then ask: “Can we source ingredients elsewhere but produce everything entirely here in Québec?” Above all, we want to support both the local economy and local agriculture. As much as possible, we want the money to stay here.

The $100 question: among all the Québec food products on the market, what’s your favourite local food?

I’m a big fan of Fourmi Bionique granolas. I eat them every morning!

We’re feeling nostalgic—what’s your best childhood food memory?

Once again, it comes back to tomatoes! Making sauce reflects all the values and traditions my grandmother and mother passed down to me. During harvest season in early September, the whole family would get together for a big tomato-processing day, canning more than 300 jars of tomato purée for the year. For me, it’s an extraordinary memory that I now carry on with my own family.

Last question, and not least: as an entrepreneur, what makes you the proudest?

People’s reactions. When I run into loyal customers at the grocery store and they tell me they serve my products to their children, it makes me happy—and incredibly proud.

Now we know that our Italian chef-entrepreneur eats local granola every morning, and that we’ll never see a Stefano-branded BBQ sauce on store shelves! If you’d like to stay up to date on all things Stefano Faita, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram.