It all started in 1990 while Nickki Stello was attending The Indiana University of Pennsylvania. During Nickki's senior year he was assigned an entrepreneurship project that would change his life. the project focused on the idea of building a brand around his grandmother’s much loved and widely shared red pepper spread.
Along with friends and family, Nickki introduced a new small business to their hometown of Punxsutawney, PA, and his grandmother's recipe to the world, starting Stello Foods right on her patio.
In 1993 a new production facility was established in the former Punxsutawney Hardware Store. The larger production facility allowed Stello Foods to purchase larger manufacturing equipment and increase production.
What started as a manufacturing facility for our own family recipes, soon turned into a business where other companies and individuals could come to have their recipes produced — what is today our growing contract packaging and private label business.
