Gina's Italian Cuisine: Keto-friendly Sweet Tomato Basil Sauce
- KLS
- Apr 22
- 8 min read
For the 176th feature of our "Together Talks" campaign, we collaborated with Gina's Italian Cuisine and Founder, Gina Sicilia. Gina’s Italian Cuisine is a one-woman operation offering a line of keto-friendly Italian CPG products.
"Together Talks" feature # 176: Gina's Italian Cuisine presented by KLS - Your Trusted Shipping Solutions In The USA
What were your concerns to transition to starting your own business? How have you dealt with being the face of the company?
Story of how it was created?
I am a lifelong singer-songwriter. I have just prepared to release my 11th studio album. I've been in the music business for decades, and in 2020, during the pandemic, I was releasing an album. I had tour dates booked and had signed with a label in L.A., and then it all came to a halt. In March 2020, as most of us remember, and during that time, I was quarantined in my East Nashville apartment, and there was no music. Everything was literally put on pause, and I needed another creative outlet.
I have always loved cooking, and I come from an Italian family. It's something in those years recent to that, I really became even more passionate about. But during COVID, I decided to spend even more time in the kitchen and kind of nurture that passion and my love for cooking. I started incorporating food themes into my music release and started posting more online. I did a live cooking stream. I started selling my meals online to people in my town. I launched Gina's Italian Cuisine in March 2021. I decided to make it into a business just about four years ago, March 26th, and never imagined where it might take me. All I knew was I was very excited about it and dabbled in different areas of the food business from catering, events, pop-ups, dining experiences, and finally circled back around to CPG.
What separates you from your competition?
I'm really pushing my product and brand as low-carb, it's keto-friendly, and no added sugar. My sauce, three flavors total now that will be in stores, is a healthy option trying to cut out carbs. It's really introducing the concept of Keto-Friendly Italian. My ultimate goal, my vision, is to not only have sauces that are low-carb Italian, but also meals, snacks, maybe even desserts, in supermarkets, in airports, truck stops, gas stations, convenience stores, gyms, wherever you can find them. This is the introduction to my line of Keto-Friendly Italian food.
What have been the biggest challenges?
Within the first few years of being in business, finding my focus. I was a bit aimless in a way. I did a little bit of this, a little bit of that. But really, that wasn't very useful because when you're focusing on a little bit of everything, it's hard to grow your business if you don't really know your identity. I was kind of finding myself in my food business and trying to figure out my focus. Now for the past few years, I've launched my sauce product. There's been a lot of learning, a lot of mistakes, and kind of navigating the grocery business.
Luckily, my decades in the music business as an independent artist who would book my own tours kind of trained me for this because I approached it with the same mindset as I would maybe if I'm pursuing an agent or booking gigs. Now I'm just booking into grocery stores. Navigating that and learning a whole new business has brought its challenges for me. But it's an adventure, an enjoyable one.
What were your concerns to transition to starting your own business?
There was a huge sense of loss of identity in the first year, the spring and summer of 2021, when many of my peers are going back out performing. Music started to open up again. I'm setting up at Farmer's Market selling tomato sauce. And I'm thinking, who am I? How did I get here? What is this? I've given up everything that I've ever wanted and worked so hard for and never imagined I would do anything else or want anything else besides a music career.
I had to battle with that a little bit for the first couple years. But as the music business in many ways continues to decline and as it becomes even more difficult than it ever was to make a living in music, I can only imagine what it's going to be like 20 years from now. I am really proud now that I have this other thing that I'm building for myself to have for the future and something that I can be proud of. It is a way to make a good quality of life, make a living, aside from music. In a lot of ways, it's taken all the pressure off of music and I can sing and make music purely for enjoyment now. The pressure is off. That's a really nice place to be. But in the beginning there, there was a struggle with a sense of identity loss, for sure.
How have you dealt with being the face of the company?
Actual blending of the two and presenting it in that way to people can resonate with. I've done events where I sell my tomato sauce or I will also cook or sing for the crowd. I've been able to merge those two worlds in a really cool way and as far as the skills for music that I apply to food, the cold calling. The cold calling, looking for gigs, looking for grocery buyers, looking for venue buyers, looking for retailers, I'm pretty much fearless when it comes to that.
I think marketing, my food brand, I do it in the same way that I would market my music. If I'm doing a demo event at a supermarket or if I'm doing a pop-up, I advertise that in the same way as if I'm advertising a gig. Keeping myself as the face of it and telling my story and communicating in that way to people. It's the only way I know how to market. That's what I've learned for decades now.
What have you learned since becoming an entrepreneur?
I have learned so many things. Owning a business that actually makes money as opposed to music, it transforms you into a more professional person. I also view music as a business and I won't sing for free anymore. I won't sing for tips. I won't sing for the door. I value myself more. I value my time more. Before, as an independent artist, you're willing to do anything it takes just to be heard. And you don't always look at what you're doing as a business or don't always look at your art as a business, but it really is.
I have completely changed my mentality, the way I value my time, the way I look at what my time is worth and what my work is worth. That has completely changed and made me into a more professional person as an entrepreneur. That's something that I can apply to music now as well and treat the music community with a mentality of networking.
What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most?
I appreciate being able to make my own schedule, work for myself, not have to answer to anybody for the most part. I like creating. I've always loved the idea, whether it was just music or now food also. Creating my own reality and my own destiny and being in control of my own destiny, that's what I love. That's something my dad, also an entrepreneur, instilled in me, the idea of being your own boss. I would never do well with a structured 9 to 5 job. I could never do it. It would not last a day. I try to create some structure for myself as an entrepreneur, which is also a challenge. But that's the aspect of it that I love the most, the creativity and just how the possibilities are endless for creating your own reality, while building something really cool.
What is your why?
I've just come to be so passionate about this food business and so proud of it as it continues to grow. My idea for keto-friendly Italian food products, I believe in the idea so strongly. I've seen over the past four years of having this business through talking with customers and being at markets that the niche of keto-friendly Italian food products is something that is mysteriously missing in today's market.
Maybe I'm about to find out why. Maybe I'm about to learn the hard way why that doesn't exist. But through my research, there's an absence of low-carb meals that are strictly Italian in today's market. Maybe I'm missing something, but I just haven't found any. I believe so strongly in that idea and in that niche that I'm really excited to continue pursuing it. I'm really proud of what I have built and how I've really went from struggling to make any money at all with music to having a successful business. A business that I can be really proud of every day and every day could be something new. I never know what the day is going to bring, but I love it.
Favorite way to enjoy your product?
We come from an Italian background, our favorite replacement for spaghetti is spaghetti squash. We eat that a lot. One way that I love to make it is just roasted spaghetti squash, then I take a jar of my tomato sauce and mix it with some crumbled brown sausage or some crumbled brown meat and make it into like a ragu. Maybe add a dash of cream and cheese. You have a delicious meat ragu with sausage or with beef, you serve it with a spaghetti squash. It's just the addition of a couple ingredients and you have a really good meal. I did that the other night with some short ribs. I added short ribs, to my tomato sauce and served it with squash. It was incredible.
Do you have a moment that brings you the most joy?
My hard work, hustle, and tenacity paid off and when I got into Publix. Originally they told me no, I need to apply again next year. I wrote back and I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're going to tell me the same thing next year and the same thing the year after that. I can't give up that easily. We need to find a way to make this work. Through collaboration with several different people, it finally happened. I was very proud of that. That was a big milestone for me
What is next?
I've got two new flavors of sauces that are coming out in the next couple weeks, to add to the repertoire. There will be three total. I'm working on developing my first keto-friendly Italian frozen meal to pitch to retail as well. I'm pitching to larger retailers for my sauces. The next step as a CPG owner is finding the funding. I have been pretty much completely self-funded over the past four years, aside from one $1,500 loan from my point-of-sale app. I've been self-funded and paying as I go, partly out of fear of going into debt or being in over my head. But that is a challenge that I've found myself in, trying to overcome the fear of funding and find the right place to do it.
Piece of Advice
What I have always tried to do is just take everything that makes me unique and makes me authentic. Whether it's my story, my journey of becoming an entrepreneur, to my Italian background, my love of the Italian language, and combine it into one message. Then tell your story and combine it into one brand. Take whatever makes you unique and put it all together to create something that's authentic and that tells a really cool story.
Community Callout
Joe Michaels:
He lives in Colorado, and he's been following my music for years. Little did I know, up until sometime last year, that he also worked for decades and decades in the grocery industry. I think for the National Groceries Association, he reached out to me and gave me really invaluable advice and really encouraged me. I owe him a great debt of gratitude.
In Closing
KLS wants to thank Gina's Italian Cuisine and Founder, Gina Sicilia, for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!
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