Have You Ever Seen a Pasta Factory
........most people have not, unless they've seen ours
Back in the early days when Etto was just a dream I researched pasta factories and actually tried to visit some. I was met with pretty strong resistance from folks not wanting to open up their facility for any type of tour or entrance at all. As I learned about the equipment to make the pasta I wanted to make, I realized that many factories were not using the best equipment, merely cheaper restaurant equipment not really designed for dried pasta. I knew the only way to truly learn would be to travel to Italy (tough gig, but someone's gotta do it). Italy also generally does not offer pasta factory tours to the public. I think there are so many pasta factories and they are so common that maybe the marketing potential never dawned on them. Luckily a few opened their doors to me and were generous with their time and knowledge.
In the beginning, I decided how important it was to provide transparency and show our customers how and why we make our pasta the way we do. Our first machine and dryer was in the Etto market and could be seen working away most days we were open. When we decided to expand our production and build our facility down the street, creating a tour was a must. Our tours didn't happen right away, but once we settled in and had enough stuff to show folks we launched a formal tour just a few months ago. Maybe even, you have been on one.
I'm proud to say that our official tour program has exceeded our expectations in its popularity and number of guests with well over 500 visitors thus far.
Here are the top ten things heard on an Etto Pasta Factory tour:
10. What’s your most popular shape?
9. Where can I buy your pasta close to where I live?
8. Do you have a bathroom I can use?
7. It’s so incredibly clean in here.
6. I’ll never look at pasta the same way again.
5. I’m getting rid of all of the cheap commercial pasta I have in my pantry.
4. I had no idea there was so much that goes into making dried pasta
3. It smells good in here.
2. I’m getting hungry.
And, the #1 thing heard on an Etto Pasta Factory tour:
1. All this, and we get a box of pasta too.
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