Success Stays in the Family

Natale Caputo, President, Caputo Cheese, Melrose Park, IL

When Caputo Cheese was created in 1978 as a small cheese shop, selling small bulk quantities of various types of domestic and imported cheeses, owners René and Pasquale Caputo were known for offering high-quality processed and blended cheese to food distributors and manufacturers.

Today, Caputo Cheese is run by their son, Natale, along with the Caputo team, and produces a wide range of cheeses, from the classic hard Italian varieties to award-winning fresh mozzarella.

Nat was born into the cheese business. Besides being responsible for the entire operation, he has dedicated himself to promoting cheese 24 hours a day.

Here, Nat Caputo discusses the family business and how it has evolved, highlights of his career, and the artisan cheese industry as a whole.

CC: Tell me about your history and background.

N.C.: My parents, René and Pasquale, started the business back in 1978. At the time, they were typical food importers, offering all types of foods they knew from Italy. In addition to cheese, they also imported olive oil, herbs, pasta, balsamic vinegar, etc.

The company mostly sold to restaurants, grocery stores and small distributors in the Chicago area. There also was a concentration of Italian cheeses, including mozzarella, provolone, Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Prior to opening his importing business, my father owned a couple of pizzerias, shredding mozzarella at night. This is what gave my father the epiphany for a new opportunity: In the early ’80s, he opened three cheese shops in Chicago. Here, he sold cheese retail in front and grinded and shredded Italian cheeses, in addition to cheddar, jack, Muenster and Swiss, in back. He also had a cut-and-wrap program.

As the cheese sector grew in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the business took off. We began supplying more Chicago restaurants and working with nationwide distributors. This precipitated a move into a 5,000-square-foot facility in the mid-’80s on the north side of Chicago.

In 1989, the business moved to its current location in the former Falbo Cheese facility, located in the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park. We went from a 5,000 to a 50,000 square foot facility. With our many additions over the years, the building is now 200,000 square feet.

I was involved in the business from the age of 10, first working the register, then cutting and wrapping cheese at 15, before slicing cheeses and meats at 16 and driving a truck at 18. I worked while going to school at Loyola University, where I learned about the operations and then worked on the administration side during the summers. After graduating college with a degree in business in 1996, I took over Caputo and have been at the helm ever since.

CC: Discuss the highlights of your career.

N.C.: I have two personal highlights. The first, after college, was when I took a month off to travel Europe with friends for a couple of months in 1994. I saw fresh mozzarella while there, and told my dad we needed to offer that.

The second was in 1999, when Caputo won the U.S. Championship Cheese award for our fresh mozzarella. This put us into a new segment, as we formerly just offered hard Italian cheese.

My greatest business highlight was ensuring the company was solvent. My father’s main goal was to send me to college and have me graduate before taking over the business.

CC: Who has made an impact on you and why?

N.C.: By far, my parents have had the biggest impact on me. This is because they are the people who took the biggest risk to start a business and put their lives on the line. That says a lot about them. I give them the most credit, not only in starting the business, but in keeping it running for so long. In 2028, Caputo Cheese will be 50. That’s pretty amazing!

CC: What organizations are you involved with in the industry?

N.C.: We are involved with the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association and the American Cheese Society (ACS). We also have participated in the Cheesemonger Invitational. We have a culinary team here with Jason Herbert, who competes. We try to stay active in the industry and with farmers to support them as much as possible. We also participate in all the food shows, including IDDBA, Pizza Expo, PLMA and IFT on the sales side.

CC: What accolades has Caputo received recently?

N.C.: This year, we were honored to receive Best of Class for our Bocconcini in the Fresh Mozzarella category and second with our 1-ounce Fresh Mozzarella Slices in the Natural Sliced Cheese category at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.

In 2024, Caputo Cheese swept the Fresh Mozzarella — under 8 ounces all milk category at ACS, receiving first place for our Nodini, second place for our Mini Nodini, and third place for our Ovolini. These achievements surpassed our expectations. A few months prior, Nodini received Best of Class at the 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest.

Since 2018, Caputo Cheese has won 17 awards in national and international competitions.

In 2020’s World Championship Cheese Contest, our Burrata and Mini Nodini won Best of Class, and Ricotta Red won second place. In 2019’s World Cheese Awards in Bergamo, Italy, Caputo’s Burrata won silver, and both Ricotta Red and Mini Nodini won bronze.

At 2019’s ACS competition, our Burratini and Ricotta Red won first place, and Nodini won second place. That same year at the U.S. Cheese Championship Contest, our Ricotta Red won first place, and Nodini and Burrata both won third place.

In 2018, Caputo’s Buratta and Nodini won first place and Burratini won second place at the World Championship Cheese Contest. Finally, that same year, ACS honored our Ricotta Red, Burrata, and Nodini with first-place wins, with Burratini winning second place.

CC: What do you like best about the industry?

N.C.: As massive as our industry is, I love how small it is at the same time. Everyone in the industry supports each other. Your company can be the biggest or smallest on the block, but everyone supports all ideas. It really is a community, more like a family. I love seeing people at the shows, as we’re all working for the same cause. This makes the cheese industry different from most.

“Everyone in the industry supports each other. Your company can be the biggest or smallest on the block, but everyone supports all ideas. It really is a community, more like a family.”
— Natale Caputo

CC: What’s your favorite cheese?

N.C.: Anyone who knows me knows my favorite cheese is Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove. It’s still my go-to, as it has put artisan cheese on the map. But I love Toscano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino Romano and all Italian cheeses.

CC: How has the cheese industry evolved since you’ve been in it?

N.C.: We’ve seen technology help build the industry, as it improves quality and consistency. We love the technology aspect, but at the same time, I love the legacy of cheesemakers. Their manual procedures are still involved in the cheesemaking process. It’s like the Old World is meeting the New World, and there is a better product on the shelves. I love the fact that there are more and more cheeses coming out every day. It’s fun to see and enjoy.

CC: What are your plans for the future?

N.C.: In the past 50 years, we have stuck to a niche of hard Italian and fresh mozzarella and are growing in those sectors. There still is a lot to learn and build on. We’re not heavy in retail, although we have a great retail brand, so maybe it’s a target for us in the years ahead. We are bringing on more people, so we have the capabilities to build on the great foundation we created in the last 50 years. For myself, I will continue this quest.

CC: What advice would you give someone who wants to be involved in the cheese industry as a career?

N.C.: If it were one of my children, I’d say be prepared to work hard. It doesn’t come easy, but the fruits of your labor will show. This is not a typical nine-to-five job; you have to do what it takes to take care of the product because cheese is alive, living and breathing. Most people in our industry understand that.

People can be successful in the industry today, and I love seeing new people coming into the industry. We also love to support those just joining the industry, including interns. We are proud of our legacy, what we built and our team. It’s not just a Caputo running this place; we also have great, highly motivated, passionate employees. This shows in our success. In addition, I give credit to my parents for taking the risk, myself for digging into the business and my team for their hard work and dedication.