2004 November & December, Speciality Food Magazine

Vallebona, a family business, has been a merchant of fine Italian food since 1890.Stefano Vallebona is now in charge of the business. He says "I wanted to follow my family tradition and my passion for food. About ten years ago, there was a high demand for top quality Italian produce, but the market was already full of Italian food but only medium to low quality products. However, chefs like Giorgio Locatelli were looking for something more rare from from small producers. "Specialising in farmhouse cheese, charcuterie, fish and Italian bread, Vallebona personally selects its products. Mr Vallebona comments on some of the most popular products. "We supply Michelin-starred restaurants, food stores , hotels, everyone has their own market and they buy diffferent products, but Prosciutto, Pecorino , Taleggio, Amaretti biscuits and Sardinian bread are the most popular products." He continues  "I think English people are very open to new cuisines. People eat lots of Italian products and they know how to combine them to create fast, yet simple dishes." Mr Vallebona suggests tastings as a means of promoting new and different Italian produce. They are also an excellent way to explain the origins of products and provide consumers with more knowledge about what they are eating. He says "I strongly believe in tasting as one of the best ways to promote and introduce a new product to a customer. We are constantly doing sampling, explaining how and what to combine different products with in order to help people make meals more interesting, but less stressful." He adds "It isn't easy to organise a tasting, if you want to do it properly. You have to pay attention to all details. Apart from sampling food or wine you also need to have some knowledge about the food; and at least some basic information that customers can take away with them."