For nearly ninety years, the Zuppardi family in West Haven has served up some of the best pizza around, drawing locals, first timers, and feeding the faithful.
Dominic Zuppardi started the business in 1934, followed by his son Anthony, then by daughters Lori and Cheryl.
Cheryl started making pizzas at ten years old and remembers how her grandparents used to do it.
“Back then they used to cook the mushrooms in a frying pan, and he had a bell that he used to ring, and she’d come down the steps with the frying pan with the mushrooms. It was all small time then,” said Cheryl Zuppardi Pearce.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
They’re much bigger now, but some things have stayed the same.
“We have all of his original recipes. We still make his own sausage that he taught us how to do,” said Pearce.
The sisters are taking the family business to the next level, overseeing major company growth with their children. Several years ago, their daughters told them they needed to get into shipping.
Local
“It took a couple of years to get the wheels totally turning and get this started,” said Lori Zuppardi.
Now, Zuppardi and her daughter ship several boxes of six frozen pizzas every day. It was big business during the pandemic. At one point, they mailed 350 boxes a week.
“We’ve hit every state,” said Pearce.
They also sold their frozen pizzas locally, but discovered people were reselling them which wasn’t allowed. So, Cheryl’s daughter Cheri decided to open a USDA certified kitchen so they could get into retail sales for bars, restaurants, grocery stores and youth fundraisers.
“Rather than people buying candy and cookies, they would rather buy pizza,” Pearce said.
Now their frozen pizzas are in several local grocery stores. Big Y just awarded them frozen food partner of the year, predicting a million dollars in store sales this year. But the operation is maxing out in its current space.
“She’s got seven hundred square feet there and it’s too small,” said Pearce of her daughter. She says they’re looking for a larger space that has a loading dock.
Meanwhile, Lori’s son Jimmy took the family business on the road with a pizza food truck, a trailer and Zuppardi’s slice shop in Ansonia.
“We see Cheri, my niece’s business growing, we see my son probably having 20 trucks or whatever,” Zuppardi said laughing. “We see all positive things, but the fact remains we see family.”
She adds that all the children work together, sharing staff between the business units and they’re careful not to step on each other’s toes.
Back inside the West Haven shop’s kitchen, Cheryl’s son helps run the daily operation managing three phone lines and endless orders of pies. The sisters say the growth has strengthened business so much that buyers have sniffed them out.
“They wanted the whole kit and kaboodle and I said absolutely not,” Pearce said.
They say their motto is work hard and be humble. They only wish their family could see where it’s gotten them.
“I wish… if, just for one day, one day,” said Zuppardi. “If for one day. One minute.”
They’re making a legacy with the next generation of the Zuppardi family and setting an example for women in business.
“We’re proud, we’re extremely proud and we hope it makes a big difference in the community,” Zuppardi said.
Pearce says they know their angels are with them every step of the way.
“It really, really is an honor that they were our parents, and it means everything to us.”
