It all started with Bases...

Classic Foods was founded in 1984 when young chef Jake Greenberg began to market a line of premium soup bases that had low salt content and superior flavor. He made sales calls to chefs in the mornings while continuing to support himself in the restaurant business at night. He continued building the business through sweat equity, reinvesting all profits for three years. Realizing that he was basically in the business of flavor, Jake eventually added his own line of herbs and spices to Classic Foods' offerings.

At first Jake assumed all spices were created equally, but he quickly found that not to be the case. There were indeed better spices available. Passionate about quality, he sought the best growers and importers and worked hard to develop long-term relationships with them. One great find was a family-run herb farm in the Coachella Valley in California, where the Vince family grows the best basil, thyme and dill weed using no herbicides or pesticides. Classic Foods gladly pays a premium for their herbs since their quality is simply the best available, actually rivaling that of fresh herbs. Jake has personally visited the processing facility and even traveled to the fields to see dill weed being grown. Taken from the first cutting, it is the greenest, cleanest and most flavorful anywhere. Another West Coast supplier provides true Indian Malabar pepper - the best variety characterized by more rounded flavor and less heat - cracked to order every 30 days to maximize freshness. Cumin and paprika are also ground to order monthly. It is this passion for quality and attention to detail that make Classic Foods herbs and spices the best anywhere.

Pasta fresca!
In 1986 Jake made a deal to distribute fresh pasta made by a local firm that was a spice customer. Their pasta was better because their long goods (fettucine, linguine, etc.) were cut from laminated sheets, not extruded like the competition, resulting in better texture. By 1991 Classic Foods had built up enough business to take production in house. Jake bought a set of small pasta machines and business flourished to the extent that they were quickly outgrown. Seeking a new set of larger machines, he traveled to northern Italy and toured virtually every pasta machine manufacturer in the region. Near Como in Lombardia he found the ideal machines from Enrico Capitani whose family-owned company has for many years made the most innovative machines. Today Classic Foods is on its fourth set of machines, having upgraded in 1993, 1997 and 2001, and two employees have received factory training in Italy.