Tag Archives: Hardcore Italians

The North American Pizza & Culinary Academy in Lisle, in suburban Chicago, is hosting its fifth annual Festa della Sopressata on April 12. The competition pits local sopressata makers in a battle for first, second and third place. Attended by more than 80 people last year, the event is hosted by NAPCA founder Chef Anthony Iannone, and co-sponsored by Hardcore Italians and Pastorelli Food Products. Judges will include Frank “The Sodfather” Balestri, a past winner and now instructor of sopressata classes at NAPCA. “I’m honored to be selected and humbled by the passion every contestant shows for maintaining this great …

Hardcore Italians is doing its part to help Emilia-Romagna recover from historic flooding. The creators and distributors of Italian pride products have produced limited-edition T-shirts, selling them for $35 and donating $5 from each sale to italianamericanrelief.org, which will channel the funds to the stricken region. Available in two styles, the shirts read “Praying for Emilia Romagna.” “We made the decision to create this shirt not only to raise awareness of the issue, but to extend direct support to Emilia-Romagna,” says Hardcore Italian CEO Mike Carioscia. To order a T-shirt, click here.  

When COVID-19 hit Italy hard in the early spring, Hardcore Italians founder Mike Carioscia Sr. knew he had to do something. “Having deep roots in Italy, our first thought was to help our people,” Carioscia says. The Italian pride products manufacturer sprang into action, rallying his staff to create the Italy Strong Charity Tee. “Warehouse manager Santo Munizzi recruited his sister BriElle to join our design team and bring our Italy Strong T-shirt alive,” Carioscia says. “Our event coordinator, Clare Bongiovanni, reached out to hospitals in Milan, Italian-American organizations and our business affiliates” in search of worthy beneficiaries. The company …