La Casa Del Formaggio opened its doors in 1988 through the efforts of Gerardo and Rosa Cicchiello, who were raised in southern Italian villages near Benevento. In 1964 they separately immigrated to Adelaide and met while Gerardo was riding his bike down Magill Road. Soon after they were married and started a family. Over time, they longed for the food they grew up with in Italy.
With this in mind and without any experience or formal business training, they opened a continental shop in Hectorville in 1984 primarily selling homemade and imported products. Rosa learned to make the ricotta she grew up with on her family dairy, a business which still operates today in Paduli, Italy. The Cicchiellos sold her ricotta through the continental store. The customer response was overwhelming so they decided to focus solely on cheesemaking. La Casa Del Formaggio was founded in 1988.
In the early 90’s, Claude and Marisa, two of Gerardo and Rosa’s children became involved in the business and they still continue to run the business today. Since then, La Casa Del Formaggio has grown significantly as the Cicchiello family brought bocconcini into Australia’s supermarkets.
Currently, La Casa Del Formaggio employs over 100 South Australians. La Casa Del Formaggio continues to innovate and develop new products as the business grows. The company is proud of its Italian heritage and still uses traditional Italian cheesemaking techniques in the production of the highest quality Italian cheeses for the Australian market.
