Family-run since 1993
The San Gennaro Foods story
San Gennaro Foods is a family company in Kent, Washington, that makes pre-cooked polenta and Italian stew bases. The Mascio family has made Italian food for four generations: pasta in Italy and Libya, fresh ravioli in Seattle, and today, polenta. Gennaro "Jerry" Mascio, a U.S. Navy veteran, founded San Gennaro Foods in 1993 to make one of his own favorites easy for busy families. The company is still family-run.
Which family runs San Gennaro Foods?
The Mascio family runs San Gennaro Foods, and Italian food has been the family business for at least four generations. It began with great-grandparents Nicola DiIulio and Giuseppina Madonna. It continued with grandparents Antonio and Flora Mascio, then with Gennaro "Jerry" and Roz Mascio, and now with their children, Angela and Tony. San Gennaro Foods is family-run today by Tony Mascio.
“When you've got a history of bootlegging fresh ravioli from the basement of your childhood home, you know your family has an undeniable passion for Italian food.”
How did San Gennaro Foods start?
Gennaro "Jerry" Mascio founded San Gennaro Foods in 1993, after his family sold its Seattle pasta company. He set out to make one of his own favorites, polenta, pre-cooked for families with no time to make it from scratch at supper time. Through him, San Gennaro Foods introduced ready-to-eat polenta to North America. The family's food business goes back to Italy in the early 1900s, and the timeline below traces it from Sulmona to Kent.
Early 1900s
Nicola DiIulio leaves Sulmona, Italy, to work in the coal mines of Black Diamond, Washington. He is saving to start his own pasta company back home.
Nicola DiIulio. 1928
Back in Sulmona, Nicola starts a pasta company, Pastificio Maiella, named after the nearby mountain range. It thrives for decades, until an unpaid order forces it to close in the 1950s.
Fresh pasta, 1927. 1954
Antonio, Nicola's son, moves to Tripoli, Libya, to manage a pasta company. The family runs it until political unrest forces them to leave.
The pasta company in Tripoli, Libya. 1959
The Mascio family, including seven-year-old Gennaro, called Jerry, moves to Seattle, where Flora's family sponsors them. Flora soon starts making Italian food again.
1960s
Flora makes fresh ravioli in the basement of the family's Beacon Hill home and sells it to friends, local restaurants and Alfieri's, a West Seattle grocery. Demand grows, and the family "bootlegs" pasta around Seattle until the USDA requires them to formalize the business. They open an approved commercial kitchen and sell to restaurants and retail stores.
Flora Mascio at the ravioli machine. 1980
After serving in the Navy and fishing in Alaska, Jerry rejoins the family business. That year it is incorporated as Mascio's Italian Specialty Foods.
1985
The company moves into the old Lucerne Dairy building in Seattle's International District. Sales grow to include most West Coast Costco stores, and the staff grows past 100 people.
1993
The pasta company is sold. Jerry starts a new chapter with simplicity as a key ingredient. He founds San Gennaro Foods to make one of his own favorites, polenta, pre-cooked for families who do not have time to make it from scratch at supper time.
Jerry Mascio, founder of San Gennaro Foods. Early 2000s
San Gennaro grows and moves several times, from Georgetown to the International District to South Seattle, before settling in a 30,000-square-foot facility in Kent, Washington, where it operates today.
San Gennaro Foods in Kent, Washington. Today
Nearly a century after Nicola DiIulio's first food company in Italy, the family tradition lives on. San Gennaro Foods is still family-run. The next generation is Jerry's son Tony Mascio, also a Navy veteran. Tony grew up making San Gennaro polenta and now he runs the operation.
A kettle of polenta at our Kent plant.
Who makes today's San Gennaro polenta and stew bases?
San Gennaro Foods makes its pre-cooked polenta in its own 30,000-square-foot facility in Kent, Washington. The plant is SQF certified for food safety. The polenta comes in four flavors: Traditional Italian, Basil & Garlic, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Butternut. The company also makes two stew bases from family recipes, Classic Cacciatore and Northwest Cioppino. The polenta and the Cioppino base are made in Kent.
- Traditional Italian Polenta: 18 oz (510 g) roll
- Basil & Garlic Polenta: 18 oz (510 g) roll
- Sun-Dried Tomato Polenta: 18 oz (510 g) roll
- Butternut Polenta: 16 oz (454 g) roll
- Classic Cacciatore: hunter-style stew base, 24.7 oz (700 g) jar
- Northwest Cioppino: seafood stew base, 24.7 oz (700 g) jar
Classic Cacciatore is a hunter-style stew base in the tradition of Italy's countryside kitchens. Northwest Cioppino is the seafood stew Jerry, a crabber, clam digger and former Alaska fisherman, made for holidays, including the Feast of the Seven Fishes.
Is San Gennaro Foods the largest maker of pre-cooked polenta in the U.S.?
San Gennaro is the largest producer of pre-cooked polenta in the United States and we have been for over 30 years. You can find San Gennaro polenta at your favorite grocery store or order directly from us. Read more in Who makes the most pre-cooked polenta in the U.S.?
What does authentic Italian mean to San Gennaro Foods?
To San Gennaro Foods, authentic means an Italian recipe, made by a family that has cooked Italian food for four generations, and packed so a busy household can put it on the table on a weeknight. San Gennaro's food is an age-old Italian tradition, made easy for today's busy families. Read how to tell whether an Italian food brand is authentic.
Where is San Gennaro Foods located?
San Gennaro Foods, Inc. is in Kent, Washington. Its postal address is 19255 80th Ave South, Kent, WA 98032, and it makes its polenta in a 30,000-square-foot facility in Kent. Customers can call 253-872-1900, email mail@polenta.net or write through the contact page. Retailers, brokers, kitchens and brands that want to work with San Gennaro start on the wholesale page.
Perfect polenta without stirring the pot.