Frank Dell’Amore began his hospitality career as a pizzeria owner in Plattsburgh, New York. In 1986, he crossed the lake into Burlington, VT where he started a second pizzeria as well as bottling his family’s tomato sauce recipe. The sauce, produced in small batches as Dell’Amore Marinara, uses quality ingredients such as fresh cut garlic and whole plum tomatoes; the bottle’s label holds a picture of Frank’s grandmother, Filomena, taken in 1914 in a photographer’s studio in Italy. As Frank’s sauce business began to grow, he started selling to mom and pop retail markets as well as larger supermarkets; his gourmet sauce was written up in the Boston Globe and from there, the orders kept coming!
Dell’Amore’s production system houses an automated canning line which incorporates an industrial can opener valued at $30,000. This piece of equipment was no longer supported by the original manufacturer. When the opener failed, Frank and his team had to open cans manually which significantly slowed down the production line.
Connected through a community resource, Frank was introduced to VMEC who saw an opportunity to help Dell’Amore with his equipment failure in utilizing the Maker’s Fund. VMEC in turn approached Dupre Solutions of Essex, VT to assist with the can opener fix; they sought to find a cost effective solution to improve efficiency in assisting Dell’Amore.
Dupre’s expertise lies in automated food production equipment. Their main focus is customer service and sourcing or designing the best possible solution for their client’s budget, scope of projects and timelines with the ultimate goal of building positive long-lasting business relationships.
Owner Isaac Dupre stated: ”As a fellow small Vermont company, it was especially rewarding for Dupre Solutions to be able to help another Vermont business that had very few alternatives. This machine had effectively become a “boat anchor” in the middle of their production room, representing a significant investment that they were unable to utilize. We’re proud that we were able to give the machine a new life and, more importantly, allow the customer to once again take advantage of their original investment. Seeing them able to move forward, scale their production, and put equipment they had already invested in back to work made the project particularly worthwhile for us.”
The complete rebuild of the machine took approximately two months. The process began with a thorough assessment of the existing equipment, followed by sourcing, machining, and replacing the necessary components. They also completely replaced the pneumatic system, from the air-handling system to the machine controls. Knowing the machine would be exposed to significant amounts of tomato juice—a highly acidic product that can dramatically shorten the service life of components, Dupre took the opportunity to upgrade the pneumatic system as well. The pneumatic components were relocated into a dedicated washdown enclosure to provide additional protection from the harsh production environment and improve the long-term reliability of the system.
Throughout the rebuild, Isaac and his team maintained regular communication with Frank, keeping him informed of the project’s progress, costs, and expected timelines. Their goal was to ensure there were no surprises and that Frank had a clear understanding of the work being performed at every stage. “Without VMEC driving a solution and the Maker’s Fund, we would still be opening cans by hand,” stated Frank, who added, “We couldn’t have done what needed to happen without VMEC who made the connection with Dupre Solutions. I am grateful to them and Northfield Savings Bank.”
To learn more about the Maker’s Fund, view the following links below: