Piero Peduzzi, the great grandson of Rustichella d'Abruzzo founder Gaetano Sergiacomo and Group Strategy Manager for the pasta brand, visited Market Hall Foods this summer. We were lucky enough sit down with him to talk business, family, his experience working at Market Hall as a teen and why spaghetti is the true test of any pasta maker.
Interview has been edited for clarity.
Can you tell us more about your role in the company today, when you started, and how you got there?
I started working in the company six years ago as a Business Development Manager. About one year after I joined, I started to do a little bit more strategy in the company. I’d gotten my Masters in entrepreneurship and strategy in Milan, and I would say that the specific role of a strategist in the company wasn’t there yet. Many people come up with very good ideas, but what makes the difference is the execution of those things. How can we make this idea into something realistic? Since then, I really started writing a lot of business plans, long-term plans, measuring and monitoring everything that was going on in the company, and applying all those things to the markets. So that is my role now. For Rustichella d’Abruzzo, we maintain our artisanal traditions, but innovate technologically and in our internal processes. We are always trying to improve.
Did you always see yourself working in the family business or did you ever want to have a job doing something different — maybe something not related to food at all?
Even as I had different experiences throughout in my life, I always thought that this was my destination. I have a few passions outside of the company, but doing business is one of my biggest passions. The family business is something that I know so well because I’ve been around the pasta since I was a kid. It’s something that I feel confident doing. I think this was always my path to follow and I’m happy to do it.
Tell us what it's like growing up in a family so invested in pasta. Did you and your family eat pasta for dinner every night?
When I was younger, yes! My grandmother used to cook pasta for lunch and dinner all the time. Nowadays, we of course also eat different things, but pasta is always a constant. We have learned it’s important to really divide what is family-time and what is business-time. For instance, during Sunday lunch, you cannot talk about business. I don’t like to have meetings when I’m eating pasta with my family, I like to have meetings in a business setting. It’s not as easy as it may look from the outside, but at the same time, it’s very special to be able to grow the business and see our goals and visions accomplished as a family.
You worked at Market Hall Bakery as a teenager one summer to improve your English and experience living in the U.S. Can you tell us more about your role at the Bakery and your overall experience at Rockridge Market Hall?
Whenever someone asks me how I learned English, this moment always comes to my mind. When I was about 15 years old, I came here to work at Market Hall and I did not speak any English. At the beginning, they put me at the cash register so that I could practice with the customers, but I couldn’t talk! After that, I was moved to the back to packaging, where I was alone. So then, it became my mission to really start learning the language because otherwise you cannot communicate, you cannot do anything. Working here was my first moment where I understood the importance of the language and that English can open worlds to everything. It was also the first time I engaged with Manicaretti (Rustichella d'Abruzzo's American importer). It was a great growth experience for me and many people at Market Hall helped me to start my journey, so I’m very grateful to them.
It's probably difficult to choose, but what's your favorite Rustichella d'Abruzzo pasta cut and why?
For me, it’s not hard to choose – I love spaghetti! As Rolando (founder of Manicaretti) says, you can really recognize a good pasta factory when you try their spaghetti because it’s one of the most difficult shapes to make. Rustichella d’Abruzzo makes the best spaghetti in the world – easy!
Is there a special recipe you like to cook with spaghetti?
My favorite way to eat spaghetti is with ragù Bolognese with a lot of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on top.
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