What began as a low-key competition with a handful of entries has blossomed into a winemaking extravaganza with nearly three dozen competitors vying for top prizes in two categories: red and white. Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Markets held its 2015 Battle of the Vino at the grocery chain’s Carol Stream store. Among the winners chosen by a panel of four judges were the Mike Scarlatti Group (pictured), Frank Manfredi, Michael Cozzi and Ken Gross. (caputomarkets.com)

Launched in 1958 as a bustling produce emporium at the corner of Harlem and Wrightwood in Elmwood Park, the enterprise has blossomed over the decades into a mini-empire that extends across the Chicago area.

Full-service grocery stores in Addison, Bloomingdale, Downers Grove, Elmwood Park, Hanover Park, Naperville/Plainfield and South Elgin operate in concert with the company’s expansive new warehouse, production facility and corporate headquarters in Carol Stream.

Nestled next door is the crown jewel of the company’s retail domain: a grocery store so well conceived and executed that it must be experienced firsthand to be truly appreciated.

Covering a remarkable 100,000 square feet and containing every imaginable item and amenity, Angelo Caputo’s Carol Stream store takes grocery shopping to new heights.

“We like to think of it as a shopping event,” company President Robertino Presta explains.

The tone is set the moment you walk in the door.

Immediately to your right is an intimate dining area within strolling distance of a bevy of food and beverage stations.

There is a tended bar stocked with premium beers and liquors, a wood-burning oven that churns out an assortment of pizzas, and stations devoted to omelets and crepes; coffee and gelato; sandwiches and panini; sushi and pasta; tacos and burritos; roasted chicken and pork; soups and salads; and yogurt, fresh juice, and cut fruits and veggies.

There are cases laden with pastries and cakes that you know are made fresh because you can see them being created through one of two windows that look into the production facilities.

The store is laid out like a baseball stadium with the bulk of the food stations representing the right-field stands.

An expansive infield sports more than 300 varieties of produce and an outfield of equal size teems with a dizzying array of domestic and imported groceries.

The right-field bleachers house extensive deli, meat and seafood cases; an entire section devoted to home-cooked meals; a fresh pasta station; and a gourmet cheese bar.

If the timing is right, you can watch in wonder as fresh mozzarella is pulled by hand, fresh pasta pours from gleaming machines and a dozen varieties of sausage are conjured before your very eyes.

“We place a huge premium on freshness,” Presta says. “All of our soups, sauces, pastas, baked goods and sausages are made on site without additives or preservatives. And we vacuum seal our meats and cook/chill our soups and sauces to boost their freshness and shelf life.”

Moving on to the center and left bleachers of this veritable field of grocery dreams, you’ll find whole rooms devoted to breakfast foods, chips and sodas, household items, frozen foods, bulk items, and wine and liquor. There’s even a small flower shop near the checkout area.

“Shopping at our Carol Stream store is a family event,” Presta says. “A wife will walk in from work, call her husband and say, ‘Why don’t you come down with the kids?’ and then enjoy a glass of wine until they arrive. After they finish dinner, they’ll shop for groceries for the week.”

For such an immense operation, the Carol Stream facilities leave a remarkably small carbon footprint. “We’re the first in the country and the largest in the world to use all LED lighting and all CO2 refrigeration,” Presta explains. “We take our commitment to the environment and our community very seriously.”

Angelo Caputo’s
520 E. North Ave.
Carol Stream, IL 60188
630-620-4444
caputomarkets.com/

That positive impression is reinforced in the soaring two-story lobby with its curving staircase and earth-tone walls accented with contemporary renderings of Corinthian columns.

And there are homey touches, too: family photos of founders Angelo and Romana Caputo from the 1950s, a colorful cornucopia enshrined on a table that echoes the company logo, and the heady aroma of soups, meats and other culinary delights wafting from within.

Welcome to the next generation of Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Markets, where tradition and modernity come together to shape a bright future for one of the community’s legendary family businesses.

“We were running out of space in our old warehouse, but we weren’t looking for a property THIS big,” emphasizes Robertino Presta, president of the company and son-in-law of the founder. “This fell into our laps, and with all that extra space, we saw a lot of opportunity.”

How much space, exactly? Thirty acres total, with a 300,000-square-foot facility, 100,000 of which are devoted to a breathtaking new grocery store that will be up and running this summer. (More on that in the coming months.)

And the remaining 200,000 square feet? The warehouse and corporate offices that currently serve stores in Addison, Bloomingdale, Downers Grove, Elmwood Park, Hanover Park, Naperville and South Elgin, with plenty of room for growth. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Along one long wall is kitchen after kitchen filled with gleaming equipment that conjures up a dizzying array of baked goods; fresh sausages; roasted meats; salads and entrees; soups and sauces; pastas, panzerotti and arancini; and so much more.

There’s an economy of scale in centralizing food production that Caputo’s is happy to pass along to its customers. But there’s a less tangible benefit that’s just as important.

“We have these great recipes that we previously prepared at each store,” Presta explains. “We did a good job of maintaining consistency from store to store, but preparing everything in one place allows us to take our quality to a whole new level.”

A state-of-the-art cook-chill process takes prepared foods from a few hundred degrees to just above freezing in less than an hour, greatly enhancing freshness and shelf life. And more than a dozen holding coolers keep each category of product at just the right temperature.

Centralization also engenders creativity, according to Presta. “We can develop a product, field customer input and ask ‘What’s next?’ in a way that we couldn’t when we were preparing foods at the individual stores.”

Overseeing the company’s vast culinary operations are corporate chef Francesco Chiaramonte, line chef Eugenio Paladino and master pizzaiolo Leo Spizzirri.

Since they were starting from scratch, Caputo’s decided to go all green with their new facilities, installing LED lighting throughout, instituting a comprehensive recycling program, and switching from Freon to more environmentally friendly C02 throughout its cooling systems, making it the first facility in America and the largest one in the world to do so.

“We are so proud of what we’ve accomplished here,” Presta shares, “and we’re so proud of the many ways that our communities and customers will benefit.”

Angelo Caputo’s
520 E. North Ave.
Carol Stream, IL 60188
630-620-4444
caputomarkets.com