Made in New Jersey: The sauce behind your favorite pizza starts with Jersey tomatoes at Violet Foods
Violet Foods produces Don Pepino, Scalfani and Fattoria Fresca at their facility in Williamstown.
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No one does tomatoes better than New Jersey, and there's one company behind some products you may know and love that uses fresh Jersey tomatoes to make its signature sauces.
If you're making pizza or pasta, there are a few sauces you may turn to: Don Pepino, Scalfani and Fattoria Fresca. Each one is made at Violet Foods in Williamstown.
Not only is the sauce made in the Garden State, but the tomatoes are grown here, too.
"We're incredibly proud that our Jersey brands are made with 100% Jersey fresh tomatoes, and they are are grown by local farmers, and they're packed very close to where they're grown," said Melissa Mackay, director of marketing for Violet Foods.
All three sauce brands, including the best-selling Don Pepino pizza sauce, have been crafted in New Jersey since 1950 using a recipe created by the Scalfani family, who entered the food industry after arriving from Italy more than 100 years ago.
"Don Pepino has been around for a very long time, and it has that flavor association to your local pizzeria, that flavor that you want to make at home as well," Mackay said.
The company only makes the sauce for about three months each year, processing and packing more than 12,000 tons of tomatoes during harvest season.
Tomatoes are harvested at peak ripeness, then weighed and inspected after being delivered to the processing facility, Mackay said.
The tomatoes are then washed, cooked and packed, depending on which brand they are being processed for.
Each sauce has its own unique flavor profile and goes from farm to package within 24 hours.
So whether you're making pizza at home or picking it up from your local shop, Violet Foods has the sauce behind the slice, and it all starts in the soil of New Jersey.
