Bottling Local Flavors

Canfield family has a taste for making salad dressing

When Canfield’s Bob Severino bumps into people, it’s good that he’s not going at a high rate of speed.

Because often in his hand or in his pockets are a bottle or two or three of his homemade salad dressing — Severino Sisters Italian Dressing.

It was that bumping into folks and giving them a bottle that launched his salad dressing from a hobby passed down from his father to a blossoming local business that has him in five Valley stores.

I got bumped into once by Bob. That’s how the Frankos got hooked on his dressing.

How Severino Sisters Italian Dressing got to this point is a classic Valley tale of ethnic upbringing, local loyalty, friends who have friends ... and a pinch of fortitude.

“People in this town are loyal to this town,” said Mike Rulli, whose stores were the first to give Severino his shot after he spent years selling it out of his house.

“It is awesome dressing. My kid even puts it on his sandwiches.”

Severino remembers the thrill of that first chance in August 2009.

“I never thought I’d get this onto store shelves,” said Severino in his kitchen in the northwest corner of Canfield. “I just started making it and giving it to people. ...

“Then I started getting, ‘Hey Bob, I’m going to stop over and get a dressing.’”

That start ignited the slow burn that had been inside Bob for years. Given a family history of food and a shared love of cooking with his wife, Gina, the full-time Ohio Turnpike Authority worker had always envisioned a small food business of some sort.

“When we cook together, we make good food,” said Severino.

The dressing is made today just as his dad did — in the family kitchen.

When Bob got serious a few years ago, he tortured his kitchen.

“I got all different vinegars, different oils, different herbs. ... The kitchen was a mess for about four days.”

Fifty bottles or so later, he got the dressing he wanted. That was the easy part.

Getting the product measured for federal labeling standards and on the shelves was another test for the first-timer.

“It’s always good to call your friends ...,” said Severino, smiling.

Friends mentored him through the testing process, and eventually onto the shelves of Rulli Bros. stores.

“I took some bottles to a friend. He liked it and said give me a few more bottles so he can give to a friend.”

That’s how Rulli’s door opened.

“A couple days later, I got a call to go put a couple cases in each Rulli’s.”

“When they’re small, independent guys like Bob, they can’t get into larger chains. We pride ourselves on these guys. They make us diverse.”

Along with Rulli’s, the Severino dressing is at The Meating Place in Austintown, Cochran’s Sparkle Market on South Avenue and Santisi’s on Mahoning Avenue.

“There were lots of rejections from other stores, but that’s OK,” Severino said. “The ones that did take it are happy with it.”

Production can be a family event, with Bob’s meticulous nature leading the way.

Spread around the kitchen are bottles of canola oil, vinegar, herbs and other ingredients. Empty plastic bottles and caps sit on clean towels waiting to be used.

The production is all by hand, right down to the labeling and capping.

The shaking process is by hand and often brings in daughters Bianca, 19, and Marissa, 14, the “Sisters” for whom the dressing is named.

He makes about six cases per week, and sales ($5.79 for 32 ounces) are finally covering costs.

“I can make two cases in two to 21/2 hours,” Severino said. He’s selling about six cases per week.

Vince Rago, who owns Cochran’s Sparkle, said though it’s tough for an independent, local business to crack into the food market, he likes the dressing and likes to help it along.

“Any time I can help a local guy, I try to. I believe in ‘Help those who help you.’”

Severino sees local loyalty as his opportunity.

A smile erupts on his face when he recalls the local flavors he grew up with and enjoys to this day, such as Belleria pizza and Mount Carmel sauce.

“Their tastes are excellent. You know ’em. You want to support them,” he said, “I’d like to fall into that category. As more people taste it, they’ll appreciate it.”

Severino has a few more flavors to bottle down the road if the Italian dressing takes off.

He’d like to produce a roasted-garlic dressing and a wedding soup.

Though he wants to maintain control of the ingredients, he knows there’s only so much his family — and his Canfield kitchen — can produce.

He’s got a production and bottling plan lined up for all the products — keeping it local, of course.

He doesn’t plan on a massive food enterprise such as late actor Paul Newman, but ... “I’m not looking to be a Paul Newman. I’m just hoping for a little family business and generate some income,” he said.

“But don’t get me wrong,” he smiles with a wag of his finger.

“If it turns into Paul Newman, I’ll be happy with that, too.”

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes to get e-mails from readers about anything, including our newspaper. E-mail him at tfranko@vindy.com He blogs, too, on Vindy.com.