“It was originally my husband’s father’s recipe,” said Betsy Ashman, co-founder of Pastabilities Unlimited, the company that currently manufactures and distributes Sorrisos. “He would make it for family and friends, he’d jar it and send it with his three sons to school –everybody loved it. Everybody came to know it was going to be available at family functions and it was something they all looked forward to. They’d always say ‘You have to get this on the shelves. Why is this not available? It’s that good.’”

In 1996, spurred on by encouragement from his family, Mick Ashman and his sons began distributing his secret recipe as Mick-D-Angelo’s Pasta Sauce. Although David Ashman left Nebraska for a time, in 2002, he and his wife returned to the state and to the Ashman family business.

“We were making the sauce right here,” Betsy said, referring to the general store she and her husband opened after the move, which would later include their second business — Papa D’s Pizzeria — in the back. “The walls would be lined with cases of sauce. The whole town smelled delicious whenever it was a day to make sauce. You smell that and you’re just immediately hungry.”

In 2005, Mick Ashman passed the reins of his pasta sauce startup to his eldest son.

“It was sort of like continue the legacy — the classic handing it down from father to son,” Betsy said. “The sauce is more method than recipe, so it wasn’t handing over a piece of paper. But since David had always been involved in making the sauce, it was a very easy transition.”

Sorrisos warehouse and signs showing past brands

However, although the passing of that delicious torch from one Ashman to the next was smooth, other problems soon arose. Another company was claiming trademark rights to the Mick-D-Angelo’s name. Betsy and David struggled to find a new label for their product.

“It took us two months to think of a new name,” Betsy said. “Everything else was trademarked already.”

They finally settled on Sorrisos, a creative take on sorriso, the Italian word for smile. However, re-branding their sauce and launching it under a new name was only the first of many obstacles they faced. Now running a general store, a pizza place and a veritable sauce factory, the Ashmans found themselves running short on space. They solved that particular dilemma by hiring a contract packager to assist in manufacturing the sauce, allowing them to focus on the marketing angle.

“Our decision to go to the contract packager wasn’t easy for us, since we’re the only ones who’d made it since start up,” Betsy said. “It was very hard to let go of, to find someone to do it to our specifications who was very conscious of how much it mattered to us.”

However, that outsourcing gamble paid off. The accolades for Sorrisos continue to roll in. In 2008, the original flavor — Sweet and Savory Gourmet Pasta Sauce –was declared a finalist in the 2008 Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards. A year later, Bon Appétit magazine listed that same recipe as “What To Buy” in its The United Plates of America compilation of the best things to eat, drink and buy in all 50 states.

And the Ashmans couldn’t be happier with those results.

“In the food business, projects have a 95 percent failure rate,” Betsy said. “That’s kind of where perseverance and a good sense of humor come in.”

Sorrisos Gourmet Pasta Sauce from Nebraska Entrepreneur on Vimeo.

Learn about how Sorrisos Gourmet Pasta Sauce came in to existence and some of the resources that helped them along the way to build their business.

http://www.sorrisossauce.com/