Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/725016
ANDREW BALDUCCI Balducci's Andrew Balducci introduced Americans to prosciutto di Parma, white truffles, and morning demos of mozzarella-making at his family's Greenwich Village market. "He had the best of the best," says his niece, Emily Balducci-Cardone. Inspiration… Andrew was born in 1925 in southern Italy, came to the U.S. at age 14, and went to work at his uncle's produce store in Flushing, Queens. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy when World War II broke out, and was injured during the invasion of Normandy, which later earned him a Purple Heart. After the war, in 1946, his father Louis founded Balducci's, an open-air, around-the-clock produce stand in Greenwich Village. Andrew stayed there until 1952 when he married Nina D'Amelio and joined his father-in-law's stone, marble, and granite business in Long Island. In 1968 he rejoined Balducci's and was instrumental in its expansion as a center of gastronomy, adding bread, cheese, meat, and seafood. "As long as we're selling melons, why not sell prosciutto?" was his reasoning, Emily reports. "He had the idea of a one-stop store," says Emily, who worked at Balducci's for 24 years. "He saw his mother go from store to store every day and wanted to build a high-quality shop under one roof. He was very tough to work for, very demanding. That store had to be spotless. He had a standard that was unbelievably high." Back in Europe, Emily says, customers were forbidden to touch produce before buying, but Andrew took a different tack, urging people to feel and smell the food. "He was really just an Italian kid who called himself a grocer," Emily says. "He never elevated himself." Impact… Andrew Balducci was a fan of broccoli rabe when he visited Italy and encouraged farmers in California to grow it so he could sell it in his store. Balducci's carried many such products that no one else did. Celebrity shoppers brought more stardust, including Cher, Liberace, and Lauren Bacall. James Beard, a neighbor, became a devotee. Early in their careers, chefs Alfred Portale (Gotham Bar & Grill) and Mario Batali came to investigate ingredients. In this way, people from around the country got wind of Balducci's. To cater to them, and to the tourists who visited the store, Nina Balducci launched a mail order catalog in 1978, which had grown into a full-color magazine by 1992. "Those mass mail- ings established Balducci's as the leading purveyor of high-end spe- cialty foods in the nation's psyche," Emily says. The Future… Now 91, Andrew Balducci wasn't well enough for an interview. He and Nina sold Balducci's in 1999 to Sutton Place Foods, based in Washington, D.C. But that doesn't mean the Balducci family has left the business. Andrew's grandson, T.J. Murphy, is the chief executive officer of Baldor, an East Coast produce distributor that began as Balducci's wholesale division for restaurants. Baldor is expanding its base of operations in the Bronx and employs roughly 900 people. Emily Balducci works in the mar- keting department. "My uncle still enjoys good food and told my daughter recently, 'Food is the anchor of life,'" Emily says. In 1968 Andrew rejoined Balducci's and was instrumental in its expansion as a center of gastronomy, adding bread, cheese, meat, and seafood. "As long as we're selling melons, why not sell prosciutto?" was his reasoning. PHOTOS: BALDUCCI'S 34 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com