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Frankie Scinta Interview
(Scinta's Pasta Sauce)
Attention Pasta Sauce lovers. There’s a new player in the ever growing pasta sauce business – The Scintas.
That’s right; The Scintas have launched their own pasta sauce.
Frankie Scinta talked with us about this new venture.
Q – At last years New York State Fair (2010), in the Horticulture Building, as part of their Pride Of New York display, there was Scintas Pasta Sauce.
A – Unbelievable.
Q – I thought, The Scintas are making pasta sauce? Why haven’t I seen it on the grocery shelves in Syracuse, New York?
A – Well because we just started doing it in Western New York at the Top Supermarkets. We hit Buffalo and the Williamsville area, all of Western New York area there for awhile. We’re looking to expand our product into Syracuse and around the country.
Q – What exactly goes into the marketing of your sauce? How do you get the stores to stock it?
A – Well, first of all we go to a co. It took us three years to find a co. to actually make it like my mother makes it. That was very, very hard. It took about two years to get it right. No matter how hard we tried, nobody came up with the product the way we sent it in. Finally a co. out of Rochester got it right. It’s a win-win. The tomato basil sauce is in high demand. It’s absolutely incredible. Then of course there’s the meat sauce and the Sicilian sauce. One they didn’t put on the shelf yet is the vodka cream sauce. That one is really special.
Q – So, this is a family recipe? Your mother made it for years?
A – Yes. It is actually my father’s mother’s recipe. So, it’s handed down from a Sicilian right from Sicily. Not a first generation. Actually my grandmother was born in Sicily. The Sicilian sauce is a little sweeter than most.
Q – Did someone in the family pay close attention to what ingredients were going into the sauce or did someone write it down on paper?
A – Mom is very much alive and mom showed the co. how to make it and we took down notes and watched. Actually, there’s a commercial we have filmed already of us stealing Mom’s recipe from her. (Laughs). That has not been released yet. We are working on that.
Q – Do you sell the sauce at your gigs?
A – Well, we are now talking to a co. that is going to put together baskets for birthdays, Christmas, holidays, gifts for people that is going to have a full Scintas package. It will have a CD, DVD, a couple jars of sauce, pasta that is approved by Mama Scinta and we’re going to start selling those via our website. www.thescintas.com
Q – Frankie, isn’t there enough work involved in the Scintas? Why would you take on the job of pasta sauce maker? Where’s all the time coming from?
A – Well, the time was done when mom made the recipe and now we’ve handed it off to a co. in Rochester (New York) and they’re handling it. So, all we do is wait to find out how it’s selling at the end of the month. We’re constantly trying to expand our horizons.
Q – Who is in Rochester to insure that the sauce is being made exactly the way you want it to be made? Who’s exercising quality control for you there?
A – We have a case shipped to us every now and then to taste every different batch. So far, every single batch has tasted exactly the same which is beautiful. We’re very blessed.
Q – We’re doing this interview about your sauce, but, what else are you doing to promote it?
A – Well, when we first launched it in Western New I actually flew to Buffalo to launch the sauce. That is exactly what we did. The Scintas showed up at about 12 supermarkets and did a signing, autographs and gave away CD’s, gave away jars, signed the jars. We did a news blitz. The media came in and filmed us. And that’s what we did then.
Q – I’ve noticed that some pasta sauces to be quite expensive. You wouldn’t think that people would spend that kind of money for pasta sauce but they are.
A – Well, we could have but we didn’t because we wanted people that, families that are struggling in this economy to be able to afford the best possible sauce they can get. So, that’s how we did it and we basically did it for mom because we wanted to leave her legacy too and the fact that we enjoyed her sauce for so many years.
Q – Are there any plans in the works to put out additional pasta products?
A – We actually do. We haven’t really released any of our ideas yet but, we have other ideas too. The answer is – yes!
Q – The Scintas certainly have made a name for themselves in Central New York. Now all that has to happen is to get it on grocery shelves in Central New York.
A – We’re very blessed that people have come to The Scintas the way they have all these years. We thought we would give something back.
Official website: www.thescintas.com
© Gary James All Rights Reserved
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