STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Formaggio Italian Cheese Specialties Inc.'s sales literature carries a key phrase, "Quality + Imagination = Success." However, the phrase isn't just some promotional language the company slaps onto a flier. For Anthony Mongiello, company owner, it's a phrase that's at the heart and soul of his business.

Mongiello incorporated Formaggio Italian Cheese Specialties in 1992 to provide delis additional Italian cheese products that weren't otherwise available. He was disappointed by the lack of variety that was available at retail, and he thought that by combining quality production with his near-constant brainstorming he could offer innovation to the category.

Quality has been important since the company was founded because "business will always come if you make high quality product," Mongiello says. The company's plant is HACCP-approved — as will be a new plant the company currently is in the process of building. Following in the footsteps of his father, Angelo Mongiello Sr., and grandfather, Lorenzo Mongiello, who both invented equipment for the cheese industry, Mongiello's business also features a great deal of equipment developed by the company for its own specific cheesemaking processes.

Mongiello has always believed that the company's future lies in setting trends. While the company can offer basic products like fresh Mozzarella, he wanted the company to be one that was known for smoked Mozzarella, prosciutto rolls, pepperoni rolls and the like. With that in mind, Mongiello developed his own special style of combining meat and cheese for the rolls, displaying them so that what's on the inside also is on the outside of the rolls — something that was both eye-appealing to consumers and different from the way any other cheesemaker was making the product at the time.

The company started out only trying to add variety to the cheese case and wasn't intent on taking it over.

"We tell potential customers that we're not trying to take away others' business. We just want to add to supermarkets' lines," says Rick Pagan, vice president of operations, who has been with the business since the start.

However, usually that's just the beginning of a relationship with a customer, Pagan says. After awhile, as customers try Formaggio's products, many want to source all of their Italian cheese from the company, and little by little the company takes over more of the customer's deli and cheese case.

"Formaggio ends up taking the whole kit and caboodle," Pagan says.

Although the company does make some bulk product — including product for a national brand — Pagan estimates that 75 percent of the products the company sells are considered "specialty" items. These are the core of the company's business both because they are successful and because it's Mongiello's passion to create new products.

When the company first opened for business 10 years ago, it carried about five specialty items. As the business has grown, though, it has allowed Mongiello to develop an array of new concepts.

"I try to come out with two new products a year," he says, estimating that 20 percent of company sales are the result of new products.

Marinated Mozzarella which is soaked in a special marinade, absorbing the marinade juices and flavors, is just one example of a new product that has now become a staple, Mongiello says. Mongiello and his staff also have developed products such as Fresh Basil & Garlic String Salad and Sundried Tomato & Parsley String Salad in addition to a whole host of other products that can quickly fill a couple of cases at a trade show.

For example, unveiled at the Eastern Perishable Products Association's show this fall was an Italian appetizer tray with grilled vegetables, crackers, fresh Mozzarella, oil and a medley of olives. In the center are two different kinds of meats, and the whole concept is held together in a wood-grained tray. The trays, which contain a total of three pounds of food to feed up to eight people, retail for $19.99.

Trade shows are an important part of how the company spreads the word about its products, Mongiello says.

"Most of the impact I make is at shows," he says, explaining how he will stay in the booth grilling Mozzarella and vegetables for attendees. "I do this all day long."

Doing so gives attendees a chance to learn about the product and appreciate it at its best, Mongiello says. Oftentimes, people are quick to eat cheese straight out of the refrigerator, but that's not the best way, he will tell them. Instead, he tells them to warm cheese — which he proudly declares is full of fat — so that the fat is better appreciated.

This mode of operation brought the company new accounts on the West Coast following the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association's trade show this summer, says Pagan, explaining that the company already has a strong presence on the East Coast market and is now looking forward to increasing its presence on the West Coast.

Formaggio, which offers other products including grated hard Italian cheeses, already has had a presence in certain markets around the country. The company's first major account in the early 1990s was Costco, and Formaggio has been one of the top five selling cheese brands in certain Costco regions for the past few years. Costco buys products in regional units and the popularity of the cheese in certain regions has led other regions to pick up the products as well, Pagan says.

However, the company is looking for ways to expand, including developing a presence on the web and adding to its network of brokers. Pagan says a broker network is the best way to grow the business nationally because the brokers have direct relationships with customers.

The company also has its own sales staff. Howard Kittay was Formaggio's first salesman and played an important role in laying the company's foundation, Pagan says. And though Kittay is retired and living in Virginia, he remains dedicated to the company, calling on a few key accounts in the New York area.

"We're a close family-oriented company," Pagan says. "We keep striving, and we stay until the job gets done."

That family atmosphere also will play a role in keeping key personnel with the company when it goes through a major relocation this next spring.

As the company grew, it became apparent that a move was needed to a bigger plant to accommodate additional business, according to Mongiello. But instead of finding new space in the New York City area, Mongiello and his wife Ann Marie decided that the company should move to a brand new facility in Loch Sheldrake in Upstate New York. The location makes financial sense and also will provide a better quality of life, he says.

The new plant, which the company plans to move into late in the first quarter of 2003, is 40,000 square feet and located on 24 acres. Currently, the company is producing 3.5 million pounds of cheese a year on two production lines. The new facility will accommodate up to six lines, Mongiello says. Costas Romero, the current plant manager in Staten Island, will manage the new facility. The company will continue to operate a distribution point in Staten Island.

Mongiello, who gets his ideas from all kinds of things around him, looks forward to the new digs giving him more opportunities to innovate.

"You look at what product moves, and then think, 'What can we do if we add a little Formaggio twist?'" he says.

This next year, Mongiello says the company plans to launch a 1-2-3 Salad Complete line of salad toppers and authentic ethnic appetizers. However, with imitation said to be the greatest form of flattery, he doesn't want to divulge too many details about the products. Often his products are imitated by the competition, he says. Instead, he plans to just keep inventing and stay ahead of the crowd.

"We bring a certain life to the cheese case," Mongiello says.

CMN