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Carla Squatrito is the founder and President of Carla’s Pasta, a multi-million-dollar food production company, for forty-three years. Carla moved to the United States from Turin, Italy in 1968 at the age of twenty-seven. She had just married Dominic Squatrito, an attorney and native of Connecticut. Carla only spoke a little English when she moved to America. She missed the fresh pastas, produce, and cooking from Italy. In the 1970’s there was very little authentic Italian food available in America. In 1978, Carla decided to open an Italian food specialty shop that carried fresh pasta and sauces in Manchester, Connecticut.

By 1982 Carla’s Pasta moved to a large USDA approved manufacturing facility in Manchester, Connecticut. Carla’s Pasta became known as a producer of high-quality products that used only fresh ingredients and no fillers. The processing of Carla’s Pasta used a laminating technique which mimics the hand kneading motion and creates a thinner high-quality dough. The company then developed a steam bag technology so customers could cook fresh pasta in a matter of minutes. Both of Carla’s sons, Sandro Squatrito, Vice President of Business Development, and Sergio Squatrito, Vice President of Operations, were executives at Carla’s Pasta, making the pasta business a family venture.

Carla’s childhood in Italy during World War II, really influenced her respect for food. Her family never wasted food. She insisted that all surplus foods from the manufacturing facility be donated to local food banks. Five generations of Carla’s family owned a restaurant in Italy called “Gallo Ruspante”, which means free range rooster. The art of cooking in Italy is so precise that Carla even changes the amount of water you add to dough depending on the weather. For example, humidity and wind can change the consistency of the dough.

Carla’s Pasta continued to grow and had three factory expansions in 2002, 2013, and 2017. By 2017 Carla's Pasta, now located in South Windsor, had 300 employees who were making about forty-seven million pounds of pasta a year. This expansion enabled Carla's Pasta to become the largest provider of frozen pasta in the United States. Carla received the Premio Piemontese Nel Mondo Award in 2012 for her entrepreneurship. This award is from her birthplace, which is in the Piedmont Region of Northern Italy. In 2016 and 2018 Inc. Magazine named Carla’s Pasta one of the Inc.5000 fastest growing businesses. In 2020, Covid closed down many restaurants, hotels, and sporting events. This decrease in demand for specialty foods resulted in the sale of Carla’s Pasta to Tribe 9 Foods in 2021.

The staff at Carla’s Pasta was treated like an extended family. Many employees had worked at Carla’s pasta for thirty years. Everyone’s life milestones of birthdays, marriages, and births were celebrated. Carla talks about the challenges of being a woman originally from Italy. There was at times a language barrier and also a business environment where people preferred to talk to a man. She approached these obstacles with grace and humility. Carla has five granddaughters and respects the additional confidence in their generation to pursue any career they choose. 

If you ask Carla and her family what her legacy is they immediately say the love of cooking, family, and people. Buon Appetito!