Celebrating 25 Years of Sgambaro’s Signature Seafoods Inc.

 

Roberto Sgambaro CCC, is very thankful and proud, as he reflects back on 25 years of managing and growing his company. However, the story begins in 1985, 9 years prior to starting Sgambaro’s Signature Seafoods Inc.

Roberto was influenced and inspired from a young age by two people; his father Attilio Sgambaro who led by example and by globally renowned Chef Rudolph Blattler.

From his father, Roberto learned the importance of hard work, determination, integrity and that when you do something, you do it right and to the best of your ability or you do not do it at all.

 

 

Roberto’s other significant influence came from Chef Rudolph Blattler, who today, at the age of 70, continues to work and manages the kitchen at the Ritz Carlton in Jakarta, Indonesia. Chef Rudolph was a mentor and true inspiration to Roberto, who considers him his second father when it comes to the culinary world, offering him professional guidance and advice in his early years as a culinary chef.

 

 

“I want to pay a tribute to these two individuals, as I would not be where I am today without them, everything they taught me is still ingrained in me today, and I am very thankful for it.”

Roberto did not grow up thinking that one day he would own and operate a smoked salmon processing company. His dream was originally to become a high-profile Chef who travelled the world, working in high end, first class hotels such as the Four Seasons or the Canadian Pacific hotels, at that time. Being the Executive Chef in charge of such high-caliber kitchens was Roberto’s dream during his apprenticeship.

 

 

ROBERTO’S EXPERIENCE

Roberto recognized that his dream did not happen overnight, or without sacrifice, but Chef Blattler laid out the roadmap to getting there and Roberto followed his words of wisdom. He completed his Chef’s Apprenticeship at the Edmonton Convention Centre, under Chef Blattler, and then relocated to Toronto, where he worked for Movenpick Restaurants based out of Switzerland. Roberto also completed seafood training at Le Divellec in Paris, France, and then moved to Montreal, where he worked at three hotels in just over three years: Bonaventure Hilton, Hotel Vogue and The InterContinental Hotel in old Montreal. Shortly after getting married in Montreal, Roberto got a call from Chef Rudolph and jumped at the opportunity to move back to Toronto to work at the Westin Harbor Castle hotel, where Chef Rudolph was the Executive Chef. This was followed by another year at Movenpick Marche in BCE Place, running the seafood department. All of this experience was gained within a nine year period. It was in Montreal where Roberto learned to make Lox, and then perfected it according to his liking, intuition and the feedback of his peers who were the judges.

After some very difficult personal challenges and much reflection, Roberto and his wife decided to make Edmonton their home in 1993. This would be the turning point in Roberto’s career path, which was unknown to him at the time. He began working for Earls, running one of their kitchens and working 8-hour day shifts from Monday to Friday. This work schedule was a shift in lifestyle for Roberto, as he was used to working 12 to 16 hour days and weekends. He found himself with a lot of spare time on his hands and became restless. He knew that he had to fill this time with something that he was passionate about.

 

 

THE BEGINNING OF SGAMBARO’S 

“I started a fine dining catering company called “Experience Gastronomique”, where I would cook in full uniform, a plated custom menu of 4 to 7 courses in people’s homes for groups of 12 or less on Saturday nights. I would do all of the preparation off site and use the home’s kitchen to do the finishing of each course and my wife served the food, poured the wine, and cleared the plates, etc. in front for the homeowners and their impressed guests.”

One day, Roberto had a client, who he had previously catered for, ask if he could create a menu for an upcoming dinner that included smoked salmon. Roberto proudly let him know that he knew how to make smoked salmon (Lox) and that he would make it for the client’s upcoming event. After committing to the event, Roberto realized he did not have a smoker. Thankfully, the dinner was a few weeks away, so he immediately commissioned a local stainless-steel company to build him a custom-made smoker that could hold up to nine fillets of salmon.

“I made 4 lox fillets, which I needed for the dinner, plus I gave some to family, friends and some local chefs in the city, as well as Mazen Debaji, who owned a high-end grocery store. The feedback from everyone was very positive and they told me that I should do something with this product, as people would pay to eat it. This is the crux of how it all began, originally as a sole proprietorship called ‘Experience Gastronomique’ to the corporation known today as ‘Sgambaro’s Signature Seafoods Inc’. I fell into this opportunity, but it all relates to my experiences as a culinary Chef from 1984 to 1993 which led me to this final career path.”

 

 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ADVICE

Roberto was well prepared to take on this endeavor, except now the purpose behind it was more personal, he was doing it for himself and his family. Starting a successful business from thin air takes a lot of courage, passion, dedication, hard work and the attitude of doing whatever it takes to get it done right, along with a very supportive wife who believes in you, your goals and dreams, and is always by your side through the good times and the bad. Roberto and his wife were fortunate to bring into this world two beautiful and supportive daughters, who from a young age helped out with the family business. They began at the Farmers Market in St. Albert, where Sgambaro’s had a booth and presence every Saturday for 23 years and only stopped in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Looking back on the past 25 years, Roberto recognizes that the years have gone by very fast. There have been multiple awards and accolades, including:

• In 1994 earned his: “Chef de Cuisine” CCC certification, equivalent to a master’s degree at the age of 27.
• Grand prize winner of the “Venture Prize” business plan completion in 2005 put on by Tec Edmonton.
• The Gravlax was named 1 of the best 25 things to eat in Edmonton in the 2012 March issue of the “Avenue magazine”
• Won the Alberta Food Processors Association (A.F.P.A.) 2013 award for the category of: “Best Value-Added Specialty Meat, Poultry or Seafood Product”

Through Sgambaro’s Seafoods, Roberto has met a lot of great people who have become close friends. He has set-up a state-of-the-art processing facility in Edmonton, where he has led, taught and worked together with very dedicated and loyal staff over the years; who generally stay with Sgambaro’s for long periods of time, resulting in low turnover of employees.

 

“I have always loved what I do, I do it with passion and pride, and have a lot of fun doing it. It is pretty difficult to sum up 25 years in a few paragraphs.”

 

For anyone starting out, Roberto’s advice would be that it is important to realize that growth is expensive, and you will only get out of your business what you put into it. “I have sacrificed a great deal of time and energy into the business over the years and I would not change a single thing over the past 25 years, as I still love what I do.”

“I also want to say thank you to all of the customers we have had over the years, for all of your support, past, present and future. Without you, there would be no Sgambaro’s Signature Seafoods Inc. I am excited and looking forward to the next part of this journey, focusing on online ordering direct from our website to anywhere in Canada, allowing even more people to share in the “unforgettable taste experience we provide our customers!”

I remain your Chef de Cuisine: Roberto Attilio Sgambaro, CCC

Founder/ Director

Sgambaro’s Signature Seafoods Inc.

 

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In celebration of the 25th Anniversary, Sgambaro’s is offering multiple promotions!

 

Make-A-Wish Promotion – Sgambaro’s is donating $1.00 from every .170g package of Smoked Salmon purchased from all Italian Centers (during the month of May) to the Alberta Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Free Shipping on Orders Over $100 – For the month of May-2021, Sgambaro’s is offering Free Shipping on all Alberta orders over $100.

Instagram Contest – Head over to Instagram to enter the contest! Sgambaro’s will be choosing THREE LUCKY WINNERS! 1st place: $100 gift card 2nd & 3rd place: $50 gift card redeemable on the website, plus all 3 lucky winners will also receive one box of our premium fresh Atlantic salmon burgers.

Join in on the celebration by taking advantage of these promotions throughout the month of May!