October 22, 2005, was a milestone for Settimo and Antonina Guttilla. It was 25 years earlier to the date that Settimo started E & S Foods from the garage of his house in Garfield, New Jersey. His only delivery vehicle was the car parked in the driveway. His beginnings started when he walked into Carlo Orlando Sr.'s office. He sat across the desk from the owner of Orlando Foods and told Carlo he heard he had the best anchovies to be found and asked for a case and a few other items. Carlo asked if he had any money...Settimo answered with an honest, "No." Carlo took a chance and it wasn't but a few days before Settimo came back with the payment and asked for twice as much. It wasn't long before he needed more space than his garage could offer.
Sometime at the start of October last year, Sandro Guttilla, Settimo's youngest son, called me and asked if I would be interested in attending a gathering in honor of his father and address the crowd of customers. I agreed and packed my bags for New Jersey. When I arrived at the airport, I called Sandro to see who was there to pick me up. At the bottom of the escalator stood Settimo. We tossed my bags in his truck and off we went. On the way to the hotel he asked me about my life. I felt as if I was talking to a friend and not a business acquaintance. As we rode I returned and asked him about his beginnings. After 10 minutes with him I knew how he had built a business out of his garage.
At his 25th anniversary party, I felt quite honored once I saw the company I was with. Also speaking was Elio Camilotto (Grande Cheese), Bill Butler (Stanislaus), Carlo Orlando Jr. and Sr. (Orlando Foods) Mark Kamberg (General Mills), representatives from Barilla along with many other prominent industry leaders.
E & S is now housed in a 30,000 square food warehouse in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, and has 12 trucks delivering food. How did he survive 25 years? Treating each customer like he treated this young journalist from PMQ...taking the time, no matter who the person is or how small, to get to know each person and making them feel like a VIP. Congratulations to Settimo, his wife Antonina and their sons, Jerry, Joe and Sandro on 25 years of success.
– PMQ –
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