AMERICA & PASTA
In the early 80's, Americans viewed their pasta as spaghetti and the only known sauce was tomato. Less than two decades, that entire picture has changed. Pasta is a household word and once exotic pesto and alfredo are familiar terms rolling off the tongues of pasta lovers everywhere. Specialty pasta has earned itself a permanent spot on the pantry shelf with the help of companies like Al Dente who pioneered this segment of the market.

PASTA INTUITION
From day one, Al Dente's approach has been based on an intuitive understanding of America's demand for pasta: ease of preparation, health and the option of basic and fancy meals. Al Dente regards pasta as a modern-day lifestyle food, requiring continuous reflection and non-stop innovation in order to stay in step with the times.

THE PERSONALITIES BEHIND THE PASTA
Monique Deschaine was blessed with an impeccable sense of timing and a French mother. In 1981, she intertwined her fascination with the idea of hand-made, flavored pasta with her predisposed passion for food. This timely union's potential proved to be enormous. Not only did demand for her pasta increase by leaps and bounds, but the one-woman show eventually grew to encompass husband and business partner, Dennis Deschaine

To this day, Monique's unique gift to Al Dente is her love of challenge. She thrives on contemplating Al Dente's future, making plans, weighing and balancing the myriad of ideas and people important to Al Dente--its retailers, its distributors, its employees and their families, its home community, all the children of the world.

Dennis Deschaine possesses the perfect match to Monique's spirit and generosity, taking personal responsibility for all aspects of their company--from the integrity of Al Dente's product line to its accountability as an employer, responsiveness as a manufacturer, and scope vision as an industry leader. Dennis also serves as a Director of the Board of NASFT, the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, contributing entrepreneurial expertise and sharing his energy with the industry as a whole.

SMALL BY DESIGN AND FACING FORWARD
Intentionally a small company, Al Dente continues to predict the trends, assume the risks and share the satisfaction of shaping a future for specialty pasta. And as always, Al Dente works for win-win outcomes by attending and responding to the subtle and complex demands of its market niche. Al Dente knows from experience that all pastas are not equal.