Written by Will Novosedlik

If you could put Italy in a jar, what would it taste like? That’s the question celebrity chef David Rocco asked himself when developing his new line of pastas and sauces, aptly named David Rocco’s Italian-Made Pastas and Sauces. “The goal of producing this line was to create the same experience as when you travel to Italy, have your first meal at a trattoria and ask, ‘Why can’t we have this back home?’” says Rocco.

The Italian celebrity chef space, like the premium end of the Italian food section at the grocery store, is a crowded, competitive arena. So how does a product distinguish itself in a space where brands are fairly evenly matched in terms of price and quality?

Lucky for Rocco, it’s a mix of ambition, staying true to his roots, and a carefully built global media presence that set his products apart.

Rocco’s line of products is inspired by the Puglia region of Italy, where his parents are from. The pastas include orecchiette, strozzapreti, and fusilli pugliesi, while the premium sauces include pomodoro and basilico, arrabbiata, puttanesca, and ricotta and pecorino.

Oddly enough, for someone who has shot over 200 globally broadcast episodes of a show about food, Rocco was never a professional chef. “I have no culinary background except that I was born Italian,” says Rocco. Trained as economists, what both he and his wife really wanted to do was become filmmakers. They learned the trade, along with cooking, by just going out and doing it. They shot their first 26-episode culinary tour of Italy, David Rocco’s Dolce Vita, back in 1998, and it aired on PBS in 1999. Since then, a slew of spin-offs were created that continued to solidify Rocco’s status as a household name in the kitchen. Rocco claims they were just following his parents’ advice: get an education and travel. It turned out to be a great way to build a career.

Aside from television, Rocco has also authored three internationally bestselling cookbooks, and in the summer of 2021, opened his first Canadian restaurant, David Rocco – Bar Aperitivo, in Toronto.

Given that he has been building this brand for over 20 years, you might wonder why it took him so long to license it out to packaged goods producers. But much like he selects quality ingredients for his recipes, selecting partnerships works the same. “Over the course of my career, I’ve said ‘no’ more than I’ve said ‘yes’ to opportunities,” says Rocco. “I hadn’t yet found one that fit the brand or my belief system. If it doesn’t feel like a win-win, then the partnership isn’t sustainable.”

But during the pandemic, with the encouragement of his family and an enthusiastic pitch by the biggest distributor of Italian products in Canada, Rocco finally agreed to a partnership.

Remembering back to the time, Rocco says, “I missed the ability to travel internationally when the world stopped in the midst of the pandemic. I craved the authentic Italian flavours that you can only really experience from being there.”

Aside from allowing the consumer to taste what authentic Italian tastes like, the product line is meant to go toe-to-toe with meal kits curated by restaurants. “Inspired by ‘restaurant meal kits’ that increased in popularity over the pandemic, my family encouraged me to find a way to create that unmistakable Italian taste and experience it in our very own kitchens with the ease and quality of a restaurant meal, but at a fraction of the cost,” says Rocco.”

After a year in the kitchen developing the recipes, the product was ready to ship. He had a listing agreement after the very first retailer meeting, prompting the distributor to say he’d never been able to do a deal that fast in the 40 years he’d been in business. Rocco credits that agility to his two decades leading up to the moment: “It goes back to the maturity of the brand. When the brand is ready, things happen,” he says.

As for marketing, Rocco’s approach is targeted and methodical. He relies principally on social media, events and PR to promote the brand. And that is working for the products as well as it has worked for his media presence. “We’re exceeding sales targets, and we’re seeing consistent growth week after week,” says Rocco. “So I think we’re doing something right.”

David Rocco’s Italian-Made Pastas and Sauces are available now at retailers such as Loblaws, Metro, Fortinos, Longo’s, Zehrs, YIG, Real Atlantic Superstore, Provigo, Valu-mart and many local independent supermarkets.