Specialty Pasta Importer and Distributor
Great Ciao has been one of the leading specialty pasta importers and distributors in the US for 25 years. Great Ciao is small, focused, and well-suited to bringing together the work of great producers, discerning chefs, and adventurous consumers. The Great Ciao crew is accustomed to products that come with great stories, have limited availability, and are highly perishable. We import weekly air-freight shipments of cheese and other vittles directly to Minnesota from around the country and around the world.
Become a customer
Expand your assortment of high quality imported and specialty foods and ingredients. Join our family of specialty bakeries, confectioners, grocers and restaurants.
Specialty Pasta
Wheat, water, salt, and occasionally eggs. When you have a product with such a small number of ingredients, every detail counts. We choose pasta crafted with carefully grown and selected grains, cut with traditional bronze dies, then slowly air-dried over days, not hours. The result: a toothsome pasta that highlights the flavor of the wheat with just the right el dente bite and texture to capture all kinds of sauces.
Mancini
With control over the process from seed to package, estate grown wheat becomes Mancini pasta at the factory built in the middle of their fields in La Marche, Italy. Cuts and shapes are available in both bulk and retail packaging.
Rustichella d’Abruzzo
Attention to detail is what has set Rustichella apart since 1981. A diverse selection of dry, egg, and gluten-free cuts and shapes are available in bulk and retail packaging. Sauces and pesto are also available.
Spinosi Egg Pasta
Spinosi Pasta is made without water, instead using 10 fresh eggs per kilo of semolina flour, exceeding Italian standards requiring just 4 eggs per kilo. Golden in color from the eggs and semolina flour with no turmeric or artificial dyes.
Ma’kaira
Casino di Caprafico has produced artisanal pasta in the Abruzzo region since the 1990s using less cultivated ancient grains like Emmer wheat (farro) and hulled barley. Following organic farming practices since the ‘90s, Casino di Caprafico continues to do so today. Whole farro and farro flour are also in stock.
Moulins Mahjoub
M’Hamsa Hand-rolled Organic Couscous, made from North African durum wheat semolina, is produced in the traditional Berber method by mixing semolina with olive oil, water, and salt, which is then pushed through screens or a sieve to create small grains. These are then left to dry in the sun. The result is an earthy, nutty couscous like no other.