Pasta Piccinini was born nestled in the heart of the Tuscan-Emilian countryside, where traditional recipes of fresh pasta have been handed down from generation to generation.

Pasta Piccinini home offices sit among these hills, where a passion for creating fresh pasta with local fresh products began generations ago.

Pasta Piccinini's US headquarters opened in Pasadena, California, with the purchase of Gourmet Fresh Pasta, which was then renamed Pasta Piccinini Italy.

This week, the company announced that it will relocate all US operations including sales and product manufacturing from California to a facility in Newton. Pasta Piccinini has committed to invest a minimum of six million dollars on acquisition, renovation of a facility and installation of pasta manufacturing machinery and equipment. The company plans to create a minimum of 27 new jobs over the next three years.

The relocation involves the purchase of an existing facility in Newton and extensive renovations of that facility to food-grade production standards.

The plant will have the capacity to produce over 20 different kind of pasta, including filled pastas, vegan pastas, whole wheat pasta, and certified organic pasta.

Stefano Piccinini, president and co-founder, said of the move: “We are extremely excited about this new project in North Carolina. The acquisition of the new building in Catawba County, represents a further step in what we hope will be a very successful project which started in California five years ago. The US market for pasta is growing very fast and is posing a lot of challenges for new, medium-sized companies such as ours. We hope that our passion and determination, together with the state of art technologies that will be installed in the new plant, will open the door to new opportunities.”

Randy Isenhower, chairman of the Catawba County Commissioners said: “This family-owned company joins generations of family-owned businesses in Catawba County that have found success and continue to bolster our economy.”

“Pasta Piccinini joins over 30 other internationally-owned companies in Catawba County that provide thousands of jobs for the local workforce,” said Dr. Garrett Hinshaw, chair of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation and president of Catawba Valley Community College.

Local incentives will be considered in future public hearings by the Catawba County Board of Commissioners and Newton City Council.