The Grapevine

The beginning of May is the start of many festivities– from graduations to Mother’s Day, there is plenty to celebrate. One important celebration that occurs at the beginning of each May is Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo is often mixed up with Mexican Independence Day, but it is actually the celebration of a Mexican Army’s victory over the French at Battle of the Puebla on May 5th, 1862. This victory boosted morale and helped the nation come together and bond over patriotism. Cinco de Mayo has become widely popular in America as a way to celebrate Mexican culture and heritage. People nationwide celebrate with traditional Mexican meals and drinks, and we are here to help make your celebration muy bien!

    One way to celebrate is with tacos! Our Addison location is now home to a stainless steel tortilla machine imported from Mexico. This allows us to make fresh tortillas in-house daily! We even fry our tortillas to make our own chips! Like all of our other prepared foods, our tortillas are all natural and have no preservatives. Yellow or white corn, crispy or soft, we’ve got it all! Our tortillas and chips also pair wonderfully with items from different departments! Our chips are delicious with our homemade guacamole and salsas, and you can try our tortillas with our pre-marinated fajita mix from the meat department. The fajita meat and taco meat are already marinated, so all you have to do is cook the meat!

No time to cook, but still want to celebrate? No problem! We also have taco kits in our prepared foods. These taco kits feature pre-marinated meat already seasoned to perfection, our homemade tortillas, and toppings! They are a perfect solution to a taco night on the go because it is easy to prepare.

Every party needs some drinks! From Tecate to Modelo to Corona, we’ve got all your beer needs. Don’t forget about Jarritos– a Mexican soda drink that come in many different flavors. These sodas are great alone or can be the perfect mixer!

We have many options for dessert, but an authentic option (and one that’s on sale!!) is our tres leches parfait! Tres leches is a a sponge cake that has been soaked in a sweet milk and is made up of 3 milks- evaporated, condensed and cream. Ours are featured in a parfait container which makes it easy to transport and easy to share or keep for yourself 😉

Throwing your own celebration? We have plenty of traditional Mexican food items on sale this week– cheese, shredded lettuce, beans, jalapenos, chips, and more! Stop in to get all the items you need to make your fiesta a hit!

From Our Family To Yours

These past few weeks have been rainy and as the saying goes “April showers bring May flowers!” This proves true because our garden center is opening soon! It’s the perfect time to spruce up your home gardens and add a little color to your home and we’ve got just what you need!

Our garden center has been open since pretty much the beginning of time 😉 A few weeks ago, our buyers visited Michigan to check out this year’s crop. We have been buying our vegetables from the same family owned farm in Michigan for over 50 years now! We get a variety of our plants from there including our signature melrose peppers! Melrose peppers are a sweet heirloom pepper perfect for frying! It got its origin in a local Chicago neighborhood– Melrose Park! The story is that a family immigrated to Melrose Park and brought these pepper seeds with them. The uniqueness of the pepper is what makes them so well known. We offer the plants so that you can grow your own Melrose peppers! Some of the other herbs we sell are the classic items you are sure to see in your Nonno’s garden– swiss chard, chicory, mint, tomatoes, basil, and more!

In addition to fruits and vegetables, we have an assortment of beautiful plants to add some color to your homes and home gardens! From hanging baskets to potted plants, we’ve got them all in many colors! Studies have proven that having flowers in your home can increase happiness, reduce anxiety, and can even increase your energy. I know that flowers always make me feel happy– how can you not when you see the beautiful colors?

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We also have some really cool and exciting things for kids this year! We are featuring some of Chef Jeff’s plants which are plants for children. The individual plants are a great way to teach responsibility and watch things grow! These include things like corn, pumpkins, and even popcorn!

Our garden centers are only opened for a limited amount of time. Stop by and browse to see what we have that you need in your home gardens!

From Our Family To Yours

Now more than ever there is an increasing awareness on sustainability and protecting the environment. On April 22, we celebrate Earth Day. Earth day is about planning a better future for the environment. It is about talking steps now to help tomorrow. At Caputo’s sustainability is a big part of who we are. We have taken many steps to make sure our practices are good for the environment.

One action we have taken is our lighting. We utilize LED lights in our interior and exterior. LED consumes up to 90% less power, has a longer life, is non toxic, is recyclable, and reduces carbon footprint by a third.

We also us CO2 transcritical systems for our refrigeration. Most refrigerators use freon, which kills the ozone layer and leaks very easily. Our CO2 systems are better for pipelines, non-corrosive, and less likely to leak. CO2 is a huge reduction in our carbon footprint. Our systems are equivalent to recycling 22,229,997 pounds of waste, saving 7,337,324,035 gallons of gas over ten years, and planting 1,657,274,782 trees over ten years!

Another initiative we take is in our recycling. We know that cardboard can pile up in your house. Whether you order things or have boxes laying around, cardboard collects and the proper way to dispose of it is to recycle it. We offer bins in front of our stores where you can drop off your cardboard whenever you want and we will take care of recycling it for you! All you have to do is put your cardboard in the bin and we will properly recycle it! By recycling cardboard, we conserve valuable resources and reduce pollution from production of new materials.

We also have reusable cups. Our 28oz double walled tumblers feature a plastic straw and are suitable for hot or cold drinks. Reusable cups are good because they reduce waste. The number of cups that get thrown out each day is very high, reusable cups keep that number low. Another positive is that they are less likely to spill because the lids are secured and our tumblers are only $7.99!

In addition, we have reusable bags! Reusable bags are better than plastic bags for many reasons. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade and they are harder for the environment to break down– it can take anywhere from 15 to 1,000 years to break down. Because they are lightweight, they are more likely to fly away and turn into littler. This litter can be harmful to animals. Reusable bags are also more durable. They can hold more and they last longer. The average reusable bag has a lifespan equal to that of more than 700 disposable plastic bags. By purchasing and using a reusable bag, we have the power to eliminate a lot of waste and potential dangers to the environment.

Earth Day is a day to raise awareness about initiatives to help the environment in order to create a better future for the next generations. We hope you will join us in taking action and steps to protect our home.

From Our Family To Yours

The weather is warmer, basketball is always on TV, and bracket season has begun! We are always down for a little friendly competition, so we have developed a bracket of our own. Our first annual Caputo’s Faves Madness competition puts some of our signature and favorite items head to head and asks the real hard hitting questions, like eclairs or cannoli. Submit your brackets for a chance to win a Caputo’s gift card and apron!

It is very simple to enter. The first thing to do is fill out the bracket.  Brackets are very easy to fill out, all you have to do is look at the 2 items being matched up. You select which one you like better and move that onto the next round. For example, in the cannoli vs eclairs competition, I chose cannoli so I moved it to the next round. Then in the lobster tails vs cream puffs, I chose lobster tails and so that advanced. Now, I am forced to choose between cannoli and lobster tails (a very hard decision).

You continue to do that for every pair until you pick a winner.  You have a few different options for the way you choose to fill out your bracket. You can save the bracket as a PDF and fill it out on your computer or just type right on the bracket page. You can also screenshot it and fill it in with photo editing tools. Another way to fill it out is to print it out and fill it in by hand, then email it to us or turn it in at the service desk of your local store.

To figure out who the winners are, we are leaving it up to you! Every item in the competition is completely fan voted. Throughout the next weeks, we will feature the polls on various social media sites. Make sure you are following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter so you can cast your votes. The votes will be tallied and the winning items will be posted. The championship round will be on April 8th!

What happens if you win? You get a Caputo’s gift card and a Caputo’s apron! So fill out your bracket and join the madness!

Check out the official rules and scoring and get the bracket here!

From Our Family To Yours

2019 will mark our 61st year in business. 2018 was a milestone year for us that allowed us to look back on all the memories we have created over the years. What started as an Italian immigrant looking to live out the American Dream has flourished into 7 stores throughout the Chicagoland area. At our core, we are a family and are lucky enough to now have 4 generations of Caputos! As a family owned and operated business, we strive to bring the healthiest and freshest products to you and your family.

Caputo’s was opened in 1958 by my grandfather, Angelo Caputo. He was born in Mola di Bari, Italy and immigrated to America at the age of 18. To gain entry into the country, he enlisted in the US Army. One thing about my grandpa, that is still true to this day, is that he is a determined man. He has the ability to accomplish whatever he sets his mind to, no matter what obstacles stand in his way. It was that state of mind that got him to where he is today. He believed in himself and never settled. He came to America with a goal– make something of himself and live out the American Dream. He put everything he had towards accomplishing his goal and his hard work paid off. In 1958, on the corner of Harlem and Wrightwood in Elmwood Park, Angelo opened Caputo’s New Farm Produce. That is what started it all.

To me, Angelo is synonymous with Romana. Angelo fell in love with Romana at a young age when he was still in Italy and their love story is very special. My grandpa would hang out in places just to catch a glimpse of my grandmother. He was without her for a while when he moved to America, but Romana was always on his mind. When he was in the army, he asked for a leave and went straight back to Mola di Bari to find out if Romana was still in love with him. A few weeks later, in 1956, they were married! They shared a beautiful story together. In 1984, they were back in Italy visiting family and looking at product manufacturers in hopes of launching a private label. When thinking of a name for this upcoming private label, Angelo decided this was the perfect opportunity to honor the beauty of his wife. He named the new brand, La Bella Romana which translates to The Beautiful Romana. Anyone who knew my grandmother knew that she was the most incredible woman. She had a heart bigger than anyone could imagine. She was selfless, humble, and kind. She was the best cook. She was beautiful inside and out. Romana lost a battle with cancer in 2004, but her memory and legacy live on.

While Angelo is retired, you can usually find him drinking an espressino or fixing a produce display. He left the business in the hands of his son-in-law, Robertino, and daughter, Antonella. My parents met when my father started working at Caputo’s at a young age. My siblings and I are very fortunate to have such hard working and dedicated role models in our lives.

We want to thank our extended family of customers for their loyalty throughout the past 60 years and we look forward to continuing to make more memories in the years to come!

From Our Family To Yours