MEMBER SPOTLIGHT FACTORY: Joe Maresca, ITW FEG - Oct / Nov 2024

Meet Joe Maresca, ITW FEG:
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Name: Joe Maresca
Company: ITW FEG
Title: Director of Sales 
Years in "The Biz": 38 years
Interviewed by: James Mincks, Principal, Kelly-Mincks

We sat down with seasoned industry veteran, Joe Maresca, who’s been in the foodservice industry for almost 38 years. He shares his love for New Haven-style pizza, his passion for classic rock, and his favorite foodservice trend. Plus, he offers invaluable advice for newcomers to the industry. Don’t miss this inside look at balancing life on the road and staying connected to the things that matter most!

1. What's your favorite non-work activity, and why?
   
   Well, when you travel as much as I have over the years that I've been in the industry, you tend to miss a lot of activities at home, whether they're dance recitals or wrestling matches or cheerleading events. So, every time I'm home, I cherish the opportunity to spend time with my family. And my kids are all adults now.
   
   When you're in Connecticut, and we're all big fans of pizza. We're all a little bit of a pizza snob. New Haven style pizza, of course. That, that's the key. There's the holy trinity of pizza places in New Haven — Pepe's, Sally's, and Modern. We've eaten in all of them. They all have signature pies. Pepe's signature pizza is the white clam pie. Sally's is their tomato pie. And, Modern is the Italian Bomb pizza, which is loaded with a lot of meat on it. But they're all made in coal fired ovens. They have a little bit of a char around the crust.
   
   
   
2. Guilty Pleasure: What can you not live without?  (e.g, Reality TV, specific junk foods, 80’s hair bands, etc.)
   
   I'm a pop culture person. I love movies, music, television trivia. But classic rock really is my passion. If we were on a Zoom call right now and you were in my office, you would see 24 classic rock album covers behind me on the wall. I have a very a music themed office.
   
   Spotify will give you their listing every year of top songs you listen to. Pink Floyd is my favorite band. Beatles are on that list. Then there's some, hard rock and there is a little bit of Black Sabbath. Maybe some Aerosmith, LED Zeppelin, those. That's the bands that I listen to.
   
   
   
3. What’s one piece of advice you have for a young person in the industry?
   
   Well, I've been doing this now, in the food service industry for almost 38 years. And your reputation is everything. And I've always tried to lead my life, in my business relationships, I want to be very transparent. I want to be sincere; I want to be honest, and I want to do what I say I'm going to do because you only have one reputation.
   
   And trust me, if you've created a good one, it'll follow you around. And if you created one that's not so good, that will also follow you around. So, I have some long-standing friends in this industry, and I think I've done it right. And that's the one piece I would tell anybody coming up in the industry is to just, you know, make sure you're doing what you say you're going to do.
   
   
   
4. What is your favorite foodservice trend that you see right now?
   
   Well, this has been around for a little bit, but if you wanted food delivered to your home, you only had a couple options before, right? You know, pizza or Chinese food. And I am amazed now how DoorDash and Uber Eats and Grubhub have given us access to an unlimited number of culinary experiences.
   
   In the summertime, sometimes if we're sitting at home or like, we want to get some ice cream and it's like nobody wants to walk out of the door, we'll get the ice cream to our house before it melts. We have to pay a little premium for it, but it's a service that I find that I use a little bit more than I expected.
   
   
   

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