The Lubranos - Sandhurst Fine Foods
Mimmo Lubrano remembers the 1970s well, growing up in the New South Wales Sutherland Shire with few others of Italian origin. Lamingtons looked a lot more socially acceptable than lasagna.
Story by Steve Agi
Mimmo and his brother Raymond exemplify the children of 1950s migrants who found themselves caught between two cultures. Ironically, his parents, Vince and Geraldine, would go on to found Sandhurst Fine Foods and with their sons, capture a large share of the space in Australian for old style, traditional Italian antipasto products, olives, oils and vinegars. Founded in 1988, it remains fully family-owned and operated and is based on the strong cultural and family food values that would turn that lamington versus lasagne equation on its head.
Mimmo, the youngest son, heads up the sales and marketing division. His pride in his parents’ achievements is palpable. “Having grown up in the business, we often take things for granted. Dad arrived in Australia in 1951 and mum in 1954 and they both hailed from poor families. Dad was from a family of fishermen. They had a small fishing fleet and barely got by. Mum was from a farming background, although her mother’s family was in the cheesemaking business. So, they both really appreciated the value of fresh, regional and seasonal produce,” Mimmo says.
For Mimmo though, “it was hard, very hard, not fitting in.” He says that looking back now, some of the problems revolved around a general ignorance about European culture and some racism.
Much of what is now embraced simply wasn’t the norm then. And, what sometimes passed for humour would be considered unacceptable now. Mimmo does laugh when he recalls comedian, Paul Hogan, showing capsicums on television and referring to them as “the red and green things dagos eat.”
“At the time, we didn’t really understand who we were. We craved the Aussie standards, we just wanted to fit in! In the early days, you didn’t want to be Italian – you wanted meat pies and lamingtons. You would go to weddings and pray for no more lasagna!”
But, by his mid-20s, Mimmo’s sense of pride about his origins and what it meant, plus the work his parents had put in to achieve the family’s future had become extremely strong.
In the 1960s, Vince and his Brother-in-Law, Pasquale, bought a small pickling factory, Sandhurst Farms, that had been named after an English colonel who was a graduate of the Sandhurst Military Academy. They grew the business until 1976 and sold it to SR McAlpine and Sons.
In 1989, Vince was looking for a semi-retirement project and resurrected the Sandhurst name. An inveterate experimenter with recipes and techniques, he pursued the old style foods of Campania, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily that were more likely to be found being preserved in ancient cellars. Modern preserving techniques were applied. While Vince and Geraldine were developing Sandhurst, Mimmo was trying his hand at different jobs and becoming what he describes as “a patriotic Italo-Australian.”
His first job was as a sales estimator for Cable Makers of Australia – a large industrial cable company based in Liverpool. As part of the marketing team, he says, it taught him to treat everyone with respect – from the people on the floor to the managers. He moved to an assistant product marketing manager’s position with electronics giant, Philips.
It was all grist for the mill and industrial marketing would prove invaluable at Sandhurst as it targeted the café and restaurant market. “At Philips, we used to create press releases and have data sheets – which is what every big business had. I did the same in my first days at Sandhurst. Philips also put a lot of time into research and development with customers to develop products. This is still true in the food industry – most great products in food are a result of customer frustration. Take, for example, our halved olives. That came about when olives were expensive and we discovered you could use half the amount to cover a pizza!”
When Mimmo came back into the family business, he says he really came into his own in that space. Crucial to his role, were the key people who steered him in the right direction and taught him important skills. First and foremost, his father, Vince.
“He taught me that you can’t sell from an office – you need to be on the road! He taught me to love what you do and to respect everyone - your staff, competitors and yourself.”
Mimmo also learned a great deal from John Toynbee – a Scotsman who ran Cerebos Foods and later became Sandhurst’s export consultant.
“John had spent a lifetime in food marketing and was a walking encyclopaedia on food cultures – particularly Asian. We lost John in 2007 after a battle with throat cancer.”
And, if it is the case that somewhere, behind all great Italian food, there is a discerning Italian mother, then nothing hits the production line before Geraldine has given it the final taste test and tick of approval. Mimmo says that absolutely nothing is made in the Sandhurst factory unless it passes her stringent standards. Once she has pressed the green light, then eldest son Raymond oversees factory operations to ensure it all runs smoothly.”
Sandhurst products are not mass-produced, but prepared in a home-style environment. This allows them to maintain their authenticity and has taken them to the number two position in the retail space.
Vince is still semi-retired, but remains responsible for developing all the recipes. His “experiments” include a garden he grows on a nature strip beside the Sandhurst factory. He will pluck the produce from here, create a recipe and take it to Geraldine for approval.
“Our mother ensures that the flavour profiles are right. She will often spot-check Vince’s recipes and ensure that we haven’t missed out on adding a vital ingredient. She often checks the incoming produce for consistency, quality and presentation. The fresh eggplants are taken home for us to make parmigiana to assess the quality of the produce. She is the mother figure for everyone at Sandhurst!”
The current product range encompasses foods as diverse as olives, semi-dried tomatoes, chargrilled vegetables, eggplant, pesto and a wide range of Italian made specialties. The company also imports a large variety of Mediterranean and European foods for both foodservice and retail markets such as dolmades, caperberries and chickpeas.
However, the concentration remains on Italian-inspired foods. Sandhurst is now looking further into the Asian market, where Mimmo says “the Italian thing is really taking off!” “In export markets, we have been able to gain leadership in areas due to the complete range of condiments and preserved vegetables (antipasto lines) that we offer to the western style hotels, airlines, caterers and restaurant/café trade and it shows that western foods – particularly Italian and Mediterranean foods - are experiencing a tremendous growth in Asian markets.”
Sandhurst currently has a presence in the export market including New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. Apart from the products, Sandhurst also invests in educating the market about quality Italian antipasto and cooking. Their most recent appearance at a trade show was in Dubai.
While continuing to build on market share, Sandhurst is also opening its own retail outlet – Sandhurst to Go. This will be used as a testing ground for new products and cater for consumers who want to emulate café and restaurant style eating at home.”
And, Mimmo says, there is also growing recognition of quality. Sandhurst’s Mutti range reflects an appreciation that Italian food relies on the best quality products. “I don’t think we could have done so well with Mutti even five years ago. But now, people are genuinely interested in quality and are prepared to pay for it. We always go into discussions about Mutti stating that we are selling Mercedes Benz or BMW’s. If the customer starts comparing prices, we simply walk away as we want to get to the stage where we have product that people ask for rather than product they ask for the price of! It has happened in every food product that we have marketed where the higher quality product rises to the top – they are relatively cheap as you don’t generally have to pay double for good quality ingredients – just a premium of around 20-30% to get great quality. We always are reminded that the secret to great Italian food is simplicity and fantastic quality ingredients – from the fresh garlic to fresh herbs and top quality products,” Mimmo says.
But, there’s more to life than just work and for Mimmo, the personal passions are travel and music. The boy from Sutherland loves to visit cousins, aunts and uncles on Procida, one of the Phlegrean Islands, off the coast of Naples. “They remind us that food is part of our Italian culture – that food is seasonal. They also remind us that the food they eat is generally grown by them or, in the case of seafood, freshly caught by them.”
“One of my relatives describes fresh seafood in such a way that it must be so fresh that once you catch a fish, it loses ‘one flavour per hour’ while it is out of the water – regardless of where you store it! This is something that I always remember and apply to the way we treat our produce and products.
“My other passion is music – my mother’s family is very musical and I enjoy playing bass and singing in my band “Agent 69.” We play in local clubs and venues around Sydney – around twice a month and rehearse a few times a month as well. I find it a great release and a complete contrast to the heady world of fast moving consumer groceries and foodservice, which can sometimes drive you batty!”
But, for Mimmo, it’s a different world from the one where he headed for the lamingtons just to fit in. Having reconnected with Italy, he says, when there “you are definitely NOT Italian.”
In Australia, though, he feels totally at home because of the way the nation has grown in the past 20 years and for its acceptance of other cultures. “It does make this a truly inspiring country.”
information go to:
www.sandhurstfinefoods.com.au