A Positive Change for Jovial Brown Rice Pasta

It took us a few years of trials to develop jovial’s gluten free pasta. We wanted to make this pasta with just one organic whole grain ingredient, and with no corn,  starches or those dreadful diglycerides. This pasta also had to pass the test of the most discerning taster, our daughter.  At that time, she was seven and her hair was falling out in clumps because of gluten intolerance. Thankfully, we went through leaps and bounds to make sure she approved of this pasta!

As always, we found that the key to quality could be found in the past, and we explored the use of old methods of pasta production. When DuPont invented Teflon, traditional bronze dies were filled with non-stick inserts and all of the pasta factories jumped on board with this new technology. The pasta became easier to extrude and production time was accelerated. During the same era, drying temperatures also went up and the hours it took to dry the pasta were considerably reduced. As with every jovial product, we find that man-made ‘improvements’ have consequences, and with pasta, these technological advancements affected both texture and flavor in a major way. We only use bronze dies and slow drying temperatures for our pasta and we know this sets us apart from the rest.

Too many people suffer from gluten intolerance today, and in our minds, it just isn’t enough to be safely gluten free. We wholeheartedly believe in the importance of organic certification. Don’t take that seal lightly because it not only ensures your food is free of harmful pesticides and fungicides, it also ensures undesirable processing ingredients and techniques are not used when your food is manufactured. We still continue to improve our product in many ways. We concentrate on farming because all food starts with a seed. Right now, it is time to forge new alliances with the right farmers for next year’s crop. Our ultimate goal is to know exactly where our food comes from, and this means getting out to the fields and meeting the farmers who will grown our rice. It’s the same mom and dad team driving all around Italy, keeping a close eye on everything, and also racing home to pick up that now teenage daughter and her sister at school!

Back in 2009 when jovial pasta was born, we also deeply considered the packaging material. Packing in a box made from recycled cardboard was the best option and we found an amazing material made from wood pulp that is 100% biodegradable and certified home compostable for the window. However, our factory did not have the equipment needed to pack the pasta directly in the box on the production lines used for this product. That meant extra packaging and work. In fact, until today, all of our gluten free pasta was packed directly in the compostable bag and then transported to a production line equipped for boxing. The pasta was then placed on the line by hand and the machine finished the packing. This was very time consuming and also wasteful, as we were forced to have double packaging material.

We are happy to report that we have now added the necessary equipment to pack directly in the box on all short cuts. Please do not be alarmed by this change because it is certainly a positive one! You may have already noticed our penne showing up in the box without the bag, and soon, you will see the same for fusilli and caserecce. We hope to make this change in the future for our spaghetti, capellini and tagliatelle, but for now, those products will remain bag in box. Same pasta, same people, 100% gluten free, just packed differently. Thank you for your support and please contact us with any question or comments!