22 - The genuine taste of Italy at home

With his Molisana Import Pasquale Di Biase has brought Italian food products to Canada

In Portugal, in the Seventies, a "carnation revolution" was held against Salazar's dictatorship; 15 years later in Czechoslovakia the "velvet revolution" broke out against the soviet regime.
The "spaghetti revolution", which started half a century ago all around the world, fights against the lack of imagination in the kitchen. Lately, olive oil has won over other kinds of fats and the Mediterranean diet has prevailed over any other type of cooking style.
Italy is the headquarters of an army whose goal is to bring Italian cuisine around the world. It's an army made of excellent cooks and resourceful importers who, starting from the 70s and 80s, have decided to bring Italian products into stores worldwide.
During his 42 years spent in Canada, Pasquale Di Biase, president of Molisana Import - originally from Vinchiaturo, in the province of Campobasso, Molise - made a relevant contribution to the "spaghetti revolution". Today, in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton eating Italian food has become an every-day routine.
Canadian stores sell all sorts of Italian products from orecchiette, a specialty from Bari, to the Genoa pesto, Prosciutto di Parma, Grana Padano, Calabrian taralli and, above all olive oil, which lately is selling more than butter and margarine. Pasta, however, remains the bestseller of the Italian products. Even if five years ago Canadian laws tried unsuccessfully to prohibit its import, now Italian-made spaghetti, fettuccine and tagliatelle have crushed all Canadian competitors.
Pasquale Di Biase is aware of his important contribution as an importer of Italian foods. According to him, his success is largely connected with his lifetime fixation: going back to Italy.
"My father Francesco and I always talked about going back to Molise, but when we realized that this wasn't possible anymore we decided to bring Italy to Canada. That's all."
Francesco Di Biase lived his entire life modestly and was extraordinarily attached to his children.
"You should write about my father rather than me. He is the one who had the courage to leave everything and come here. After all, I came here after he had already smoothed out all difficulties. It was a lot easier for me."
Why do you consider your father a courageous person?
"He came here in 1950. At those times Canada wasn't the country we are used to now. It wasn't a multicultural society, Italians were few and far between. Those who wanted to stay here had to sign a two-year contract that allowed them to work in the railway building in Manitoba. Those years were tough; people lived far from any form of civilization for very long periods of time and had to endure weather conditions they had never been used to. Just think about a farmer like my father, having to live in such conditions. He would work along the railway tracks during the day and become a barber in the evening, cutting his fellow workers' hair to make a little bit of extra money. No telephones were available in those days and we used to receive one letter a month from him. This is how my mother, my sister Antonietta and myself would keep in touch with him."
What did he do after his two-year contract expired?
"He moved to Toronto and started working in construction for 85 cents per hour. He would go up and down the scaffolding carrying concrete on his shoulders. One day he had an accident and was forced to spend six years in hospital. He never told us anything, because he didn't want us to be worried. When he was released from hospital, he found a job in a company where chickens were butchered, delivered to the stores and sold to the public. Finally he got a better job, his salary was not bad either, so he managed to build a house and in the spring of 1957 we all came over. 'We spend the summer together', he would say 'then next fall I'll sell the house and we all go back to Vinchiaturo' were his words."
How old were you at that time?
"I was 14, and before that I had never traveled outside my town. I was amazed by this city, its buildings and the people who lived here. Our house was small but comfortable. That summer the weather was beautiful, just like in Italy. To make the story short, in October we decided to postpone our return to Italy and stay in Canada to make enough money in order to open a store in Vinchiaturo. My father always liked the idea of having a business and he wanted me to help him. So I would go to school in the morning and work in a store in the afternoon to become familiar with the trade business. I worked for free, of course, but I learned something..."
So what did you learn?
"I found out that here people did not know how to eat properly. I realized that telling people how to enjoy a good meal was the right business to pursue. In 1963 my father and I opened the 'Florid Supermarket'. It was an instant success, we introduced the first Italian specialties like tomato sauce. Then we started importing coffee, pasta and biscuits from Italy. The business was going really well, so six years later I thought it was time to start my own family. In 1969 I married Anna, a Calabrian girl from Cosenza. Together we had three children: Teresa, 28 who has just given me a beautiful granddaughter, Natasha, Francesco, 26 and Dante, 21. All of them work with me at the Molisana Import."
What happened with your fixation about going back to Italy and Molise?
"I was still determined to go back one day. So I took advantage of the time spent there during our honeymoon and started to build what Spanish people call the 'buen retiro', a retirement home. I bought some land in Avezzano and I built a farm where Canadian cows were bred and cheese and milk were produced. My business in Canada was successful and it gave me the chance to travel to Italy very often. It was hard, though."
Why?
"There was a lot of red tape and obstacles to be overcome along the way. I concentrated exclusively on my work, but in those years in Italy it was necessary to side with a political party, otherwise all doors would shut in your face. That's why I gave up. So I left the farm to my brother-in-law's brother, who would take care of it during my absence. Considering it was hard for me to bring my business to Italy, I decided to import Italian products to my business in Canada."
So what did you do?
"I met the owners of La Molisana, Colavita Oil, the Camardo Coffee Company, and the Valentino Bakery. I knew them all already and I became their importer to Canada. I did it because of business reasons but also because I was proud to bring Italian products from my region into this country. It was like bringing Molise into Canada, with all its genuine products. Meanwhile, the Globe Wholesale Inc. was born. Initially I would manage the company with my brother Mike, the only member of our family who was born here. When La Molisana Import became successful I left the Globe completely in his hands.
"The Globe's main goal is summarized in its motto: 'wholesale meats directly to the public'. From then on, I was taking care of food imports and my brother kept the meat business. Our father, who in the meantime retired, was always ready to help us. In spite of his two heart attacks he still wants to work. As soon as he gets better he starts working again. In a way I understand him, I'm just like him."
When did you realize you could bring Italy, or at least the part of it connected with food, to Canada?
"When Trudeau launched the multiculturalism issue. I said to myself: gastronomy is part of our culture and Italian delicatessens are the most famous in the world. I'll find my space here. And it wasn't hard. Here people did not know how to eat properly. Just think, they weren't even familiar with veal meat."
How did you introduce it to them?
"I made an alliance with television, radio and the press. I have reasons to believe that I am the importer who relied on advertising more than any other person in the business. Advertising is the vital part of business and it constitutes the most direct way to reach the customers and tell them what you are selling and why you want to sell it. I read somewhere that ads educate the public. I think I contributed to the Canadian diet and good eating education."
As far as I understood, all Italian actors and singers who've traveled here have come to see you. Here is a picture of your father with Claudio Villa and his young wife. It was the 70s, I believe?
"1975 to be precise. Claudio Villa came to Toronto for his honeymoon. I'm a businessman, not an impresario. However, I took every occasion to welcome show-business people: Gianni Morandi, Nilla Pizzi, Little Tony and also intellectuals and politicians. They were interested in our company. In the 70s it was one of the few to import Italian products. I always tried to be under the spotlight to sell my products, and welcoming personalities was part of my strategy. I did what I did because I've always loved Italy and since Trudeau allowed me to pursue my goals, I wanted to show Canadians that Italians are not only good in the construction business but they also have brains and a great history as their background."
Here is a picture of you with Antonio Di Pietro. Is he a friend of yours?
"More than that. Tonino is a very special person to me. First of all, he was born in Montenero di Bisaccia, a few kilometres from my town. People from Molise are close to each other when they are abroad. To some Di Pietro is a symbol, I consider him a paesano. Do you see what I mean?"
Sure. But tell me, what is Molisana Import today?
"One of the biggest Italian food importing companies in Canada. It employs about 100 people. Its headquarters are here in Toronto, but we reach the rest of the country with our trucks."
Do you have plants in other cities?
"No. And you know why? Because where I come from people say that you must conduct business where you live. I live in Toronto. Even if my business grew through the years, my family is managing it: my brother, my children, my father. We work all day long and we trust each other. It's never a question of financial control over each other, rather it's faith that comes from knowing what each of us is capable of doing. Basically, as I told you before, by not being able to go back to Italy we found a way to bring Italy here. I am following our philosophy."
Which is?
"Don't bite more than you can chew. Why should I change?"

(translated by Tiziana Tedesco)

Publication Date: 2002-12-22
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2197