Husband and wife, Deni & Josie Rapattoni, own and run small family business - Pasta Italia, which specialise in traditional and authentic home-made pasta products.

Deni is in charge of the factory - over looking the production of the foodstuffs, while the retail outlet is run by Josie who is also the chef cooking up the delicious food for take away.

Pasta Italia source only the best and freshest ingredients for the manufacturing of their variety of quality products. There are no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. Their pasta was the only entrant to receive a gold medal in this year’s Easter show, and they received the highest points ever awarded for pasta for their penne.

Deni Rapattoni says it’s great to be recognised for your hard work - they are already seeing customers flock to their Smithfield location after sampling their pasta at the Easter show - and it goes to show that quality goes ahead after winning their medals at the Show. Pasta Italia plans to make a bigger splash next year with a demonstration of their wares at the Show in 2009.

This case is a perfect example of numerous skills and passions complementing each other - Deni is a qualified electrician, having done an apprenticeship when he was younger but the fact that his family was involved in the pasta business spurred his keenness which led to Pasta Italia. Yet his past skills are still put to good use - the durum wheat which the Rapattoni's use in their pasta can only be worked by machine and along with the refrigeration units that run constantly to keep their product fresh: it is here where Deni’s electrical background is key to his business. Deni does all repairs to the machines himself and with his passion for his product he now loves what he does, he’s happy to be able to use his skills to keep his business working.