My Business Elevates Aperitivo Hour, Sees $8K to $10K a Month

This as-told story relies on a dialog with Joe Fiorenzo. Fiorenzo and his spouse, Sheela Prakash, co-founded Sfizi, a meals firm curating Italian merchandise in celebration of aperitivo tradition. They launched their first product, ring-shaped snack crackers referred to as taralli, in December 2025. Now, their enterprise sees a median of $8,000 to $10,000 in month-to-month gross sales, on monitor for $100,000 in its first yr, because it plans for product growth. The piece has been edited for size and readability. 

 I began the enterprise with my spouse, Sheela. Sheela has studied and lived in Italy on and off for the previous 10 years. We’ve been collectively for all that point, and we’ve traveled in Italy collectively. Throughout that point, we fell in love with Italian tradition. I even have an Italian American background, so I’ve skilled a few of these Italian influences over the course of my childhood. 

Sfizi interprets to “whims” in Italian. We prefer to consult with them as little pleasures. The aim is principally to have a good time little pleasures of Italian tradition. We launched with Italian Taralli crackers, the small bagel-looking crackers. You do see them all through the USA. A number of instances they’re in these clear cellophane luggage. They’re typically very dusty wanting, on the backside of a basket someplace within the cheese part. We needed to begin with that product as a result of it felt like a simple segue.

Beginning a self-funded enterprise with out a CPG background

Neither of us have a CPG background. I labored in company insurance coverage for 17 years. Sheela has a meals background, however not within the CPG area. So we needed to begin small. We figured, if we are able to’t determine this out, then we most likely are within the flawed enterprise, so we must always most likely do one thing else. Nevertheless it’s been good thus far. We launched with three flavors; we needed to make them enjoyable, approachable and attention-grabbing. 

We began reaching out to model design corporations in early 2025. On the identical time, we reached out to numerous producers in Italy to see if they might accommodate what we have been trying to do. The primary most likely six months have been largely going forwards and backwards on the brand identity and our imaginative and prescient. 

We despatched out a few dozen chilly emails to Italian producers to get a way of what was potential. Then we spent two to 3 weeks touring the Puglia area of Italy, visiting producers and sampling taralli and different merchandise that they’d, attempting to develop a rapport in that brief period of time. In fact, there was somewhat little bit of a language barrier, so we needed to verify there was any person on their workforce who might talk in English in case there was one thing that wanted to be sort of articulated that we couldn’t essentially translate. In order that was a enjoyable however lengthy course of. 

We’re fully self-funded. Whole startup costs have been round $50,000. We’re potential traders going into subsequent yr. So hopefully now we have somewhat bit extra help. We’ve a gentle stream of income. We had a reasonably aggressive launch and fairly good income stream the primary few months. Then it sort of evened out somewhat bit, and now we’re fairly steady. Relying on the month, we’re averaging $8,000 to $10,000 product sales. We’re concentrating on over $100,000 in product sales for the primary yr. 

We’ve a social media one that works with us, a contract employee who’s a good friend of ours. And we’ve been leaning closely on her for placing inspirational, artistic and enjoyable posts out. We’ve 10 to 12 posts exit every week to maintain that curiosity going. Additionally, we’ve performed some partnerships with different manufacturers. We’ll do a collaboration the place we give away each of our merchandise. There’s loads of alternative in that area as a result of there are such a lot of totally different CPG brands on the market trying to acquire publicity. We’re clearly keen to accomplice with anyone who’s keen to do the identical for us. 

Now, we’re absolutely centered on the enterprise, excluding some side projects. My spouse is a cookbook author, so she’s been engaged on that as nicely. And aspect tasks that I’ve been engaged on that aren’t CPG-related. The day operating Sfizi could be very time-consuming, but it surely may also be much less time-consuming, relying on what’s happening. So you need to put different issues in your plate as nicely. 

Navigating timing and order movement for fulfillment

The largest challenges have revolved round timing and order movement, each when it comes to customer ordering and putting orders with our Italian producers for our product. It’s tough as a result of you’ll be able to’t at all times anticipate what gross sales are going to be like. After we first launched, we had a comparatively small quantity as a result of we actually had no thought and we wanted to have a baseline. So simply in case we weren’t in a position to promote something, we weren’t out of pocket some huge cash.

Fortunately, we bought out in a short time — in lower than a month. So from there, we ramped up manufacturing and scaled that approach. The timing of that plus the opposite components that go into delivering the ultimate product, whether or not it’s design for the packaging, printing packaging, and many others. — coordinating the timelines of all these totally different distributors — could be robust. After which now we have a third-party warehouse that shops our product and likewise fulfills orders.

It’s actually been a learn-on-the-fly course of as a result of we didn’t have the expertise with it. However now we have a significantly better deal with on it now than we did eight months in the past. Now, now we have sufficient order quantity that we’re snug with ordering extra product than we would really want for the very foreseeable future. Our product does have a protracted shelf life proper now, a few yr. So if the product has to take a seat for somewhat bit, that’s tremendous. 

Increasing the product portfolio

We’re undoubtedly trying to broaden the product portfolio. A minimum of for now, we wish to keep inside the Italian aperitivo angle as a result of that’s common within the U.S. Individuals are at all times in search of new, enjoyable snacks or merchandise to associate with their spritz or negroni or regardless of the drink of the week is. So we’ve reached out to a couple totally different Italian producers for a couple of totally different merchandise, although we don’t have something lined up definitively but. However we’re fairly sure we’re going to launch at the very least a second full product early in spring of 2027. We simply haven’t ironed out all the small print but. 

Down the street, we will surely prefer to dip into the pantry aspect of issues, whether or not that’s a enjoyable pasta, sauce and even flour. As of late, there’s such a give attention to good flours, bread and healthful snacks. So we’re in a great place for lots of various instructions from a product standpoint. Presently, we don’t import in bulk, however that’s one thing we might think about as a result of we’ve gotten some curiosity from eating places and bars. 

Recommendation for different CPG founders

To anybody contemplating beginning a enterprise within the CPG area, don’t be afraid to ask people for help. Meet with different manufacturers and corporations doing comparable issues. As a result of what you actually come to understand is no one is aware of that a lot, however any person may know just a bit bit extra, or possibly they’ve had a sure expertise with one thing that you simply haven’t. So choose folks’s brains and simply attempt to perceive how they’re doing issues. You may be capable of apply what they’re doing to what you are promoting, even when it’s not precisely the identical factor.

You’ll be able to’t be afraid to fail. We went into this enterprise with good intentions, however we really didn’t know the way it was going to work out. So you need to have somewhat little bit of humility. Don’t be afraid to be susceptible and ask questions. As a result of with out the ideas from a few of these different founders, I don’t know if we might be the place we at the moment are.

This as-told story relies on a dialog with Joe Fiorenzo. Fiorenzo and his spouse, Sheela Prakash, co-founded Sfizi, a meals firm curating Italian merchandise in celebration of aperitivo tradition. They launched their first product, ring-shaped snack crackers referred to as taralli, in December 2025. Now, their enterprise sees a median of $8,000 to $10,000 in month-to-month gross sales, on monitor for $100,000 in its first yr, because it plans for product growth. The piece has been edited for size and readability. 

 I began the enterprise with my spouse, Sheela. Sheela has studied and lived in Italy on and off for the previous 10 years. We’ve been collectively for all that point, and we’ve traveled in Italy collectively. Throughout that point, we fell in love with Italian tradition. I even have an Italian American background, so I’ve skilled a few of these Italian influences over the course of my childhood. 

Sfizi interprets to “whims” in Italian. We prefer to consult with them as little pleasures. The aim is principally to have a good time little pleasures of Italian tradition. We launched with Italian Taralli crackers, the small bagel-looking crackers. You do see them all through the USA. A number of instances they’re in these clear cellophane luggage. They’re typically very dusty wanting, on the backside of a basket someplace within the cheese part. We needed to begin with that product as a result of it felt like a simple segue.