Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark and Hilda Portwood.
Mark graduated from the Culinary Institue of American in NY and became a chef. Hilda was raised Italian and studied business for two years in Venezuela. Hilda always loved pasta and still dreams of it till this day. They met in Atlanta, working at Capriccios in 1985 when they starting dating. In 1987 they married and decided to pursue their dream of making pasta and call it Pasta Mami, named after Hilda.
They started with a small retail and kitchen space off of Windy Hill but decided to close the retail since the wholesale business was really taking off.
In 1990, they moved into a larger kitchen to continue their wholesale production. It only took 3 years to outgrow that space and they moved into a larger unit in the same complex.
The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta really helped Pasta Mami establish itself and gain momentum.
After that Pasta Mami really began to grow more and more each year due to word of mouth from chefs, caterers, and other customers they were selling to. In 2013, they moved to their final location where they operate out of now.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Starting Pasta Mami was the beginning of their grand adventure as a young couple and as a career. Mark a chef and Hilda a culinary pasta artist were the ideal dream team to start this venture.
There were definitely challenges throughout their journey. Raising two children and establishing a new business is hard work. They were dedicated to their business and worked seven days a week when they first began.
Growing Pasta Mami took a lot of time, patience, and labor.
Pasta Mami grew by word of mouth and the quality of the pasta spoke for itself.
The 2008 slump in the economy affected Pasta Mami as well. They scaled down labor and took on a lot more work themselves. Luckily they are business savvy and had each other to rely on they did what it took to continue with their success.
When the economy improved so did Pasta Mami.
Please tell us about Pasta Mami.
Pasta Mami specializes in making quality fresh pasta and gnocchi. We take immense pride in our pasta and never use preservatives, shortcuts, or artificial food coloring or flavors. Everything we make is made in-house with all natural ingredients. Fresh eggs are broken daily for that day’s production.
Pasta Mami works closely with our customers to deliver them a custom-made product for their establishment. Many of our products are handmade and all product is hand packaged.
We are always creating new and innovative pasta ideas to offer our customers unique pasta unseen elsewhere.
Developing and maintaining good relations with our customers has always been important to us.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We cannot think of anything we would change. If we had to start over, we would do the same thing.
All our experiences have made us who we are today.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1088 W Atlanta St SE
Marietta, Ga 30060 - Website: www.pastamami.net
- Phone: 7708530655
- Email: pastamamiinc@gmail.com
- Instagram: @pastamamiinc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pastamami
- Twitter: @pastamamiinc
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pasta-mami-marietta
Image Credit:
Angela Portwood
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