At the age of 16, John Ventre Jr. headed West, seeking adventure and opportunity. In Hollywood, he became a freelance photographer, well-known by many of the entertainers of the times such as Jimmy Stewart and Lana Turner. But things really started to happen when John returned to his native Syracuse, NY to sign-up for WWII. Rejected due to poor eyesight, he opened a business in the basement of the family restaurant. It was 1936, and John was the ripe old age of 22. His first product was pre-packed shrimp cocktails, sold to restaurants throughout Syracuse. They were prepared during the night and delivered the next morning. Two years after opening his business, John changed direction. He began making a fresh, tasty spaghetti sauce instead. It was 1938 when John made the big switch using a recipe of his own creation. He did, however, name the new product after his grandfather, Enrico! 1970's - With the help of John's son, Martin, we re-positioned our Enrico's Sauce as the first All Natural line of bottled spaghetti sauces. No other company, either nationally or regionally, produced an All Natural sauce at this time. 1981 - The introduction of the first Enrico's All Natural Salsa. This was more than a decade before salsa dollar sales eclipsed those of ketchup. Today, our Enrico's brand Salsa is the number one seller in the Natural Foods market. 1988 - We became the first company in the Natural Foods market to produce a pasta sauce using Organic tomatoes. 1994 - The introduction of our first 100% Organic Pasta Sauce line. Enrico's Premium Organic Fat Free Pasta Sauces are offered in six flavors: Traditional, Traditional with No Salt Added, Bountiful Basil, Garlic Lovers, Mushroom Madness and Red Hot Chili Pepper. 1997 - We're still developing new Enrico's products... last year we introduced the Enrico's Roasted Garlic Salsa and the Enrico's Chipotle Salsa.
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