Luca and Tine Bellucci’s peninsula-based company Island Pasta is a story of passion and commitment. But it is also a story of providence, where two people from different corners of Europe met by chance on a tiny island on the other side of the world, stuck together and are following their dreams.
Italian-born Luca first visited Australia in 2003, returned in 2006, and spent time working in Sydney and Brisbane. He then returned to Italy. The next few years was spent working in restaurants and travelling around as the private chef for a family before, in 2014, he decided to head to Australia again.
“I saw an advertisement for a restaurant on Phillip Island wanting a chef, so I applied and that is where I ended up moving to,” said Luca.
For the next six-and-half years, Luca worked his craft and slowly developed the idea of going out on his own making pasta and sauces, following a passion instilled from his Italian heritage. It was during this time at Phillip Island that Luca came across a German backpacker, Tine, who was travelling around Australia with a friend. The pair became a couple, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In 2020, the couple moved to Mornington and really started to work on Luca’s idea of a business making pasta. “I saw a gap in the market,” said Luca. “There was very little premium pasta, in a food environment where people’s expectations were lifting well above what they could get at a supermarket.” And so, Island Pasta was born.
Luca and Tine started out as a home-based business in October 2021. Luca was particular about what he wanted to make and knew it would be their recipe for success. “We needed to do it right. We sourced the best equipment from Italy, and we sourced some of the ingredients from there too, like the tomatoes and cheese that we use for our sauces. We weren’t going to take short cuts,” said Luca.
They are especially proud to use Australian durum wheat semolina flour, with Australia recognised for producing some of the world’s highest-quality grain. A little-known fact is that a large portion of Australian-grown wheat is exported around the world, including to countries with strong pasta-making traditions. “Of course, the pasta we make is traditional, but we use new and updated methods to make the pasta that creates a superior product.”
Luca believes the difference you can taste is due to the low mechanical stress processing and slow nature of the drying
Premium ingredients aside, Luca believes the difference you can taste is due to the low mechanical stress processing and slow nature of the drying. “There are many steps to making the pasta, and all of them must be right to create a premium product.”
Where store-bought pasta has inferior ingredients and is dried as quickly as possible to suit a mass market (sometimes as little as 3 to 4 hours drying time), Island Pasta is dried over 20 to 25 hours in order to maintain the integrity of the ingredients. “It is a slow process, but the finished product is beyond compare,” said Luca. “Our pasta preserves the natural flavour and fragrance of semolina while offering high digestibility and a naturally low glycemic index – like a new Italian standard for healthy pasta.”
They started wholesaling straight away, but it was tough to get into new stores as a start-up business. They also did markets to increase brand awareness of the product. The business quickly began to grow, and they soon outgrew their home business set-up.
The next move was a shopfront at the Dava Drive shops in Mornington. Then, two years ago, they took over the shop next door and filled that too.
Now the company keeps the pair busy seven days a week, with Luca doing the pasta making and Tine everything else that follows: from packaging, to marketing, to managing the wholesaling. “It is a real team effort, and it keeps us very busy,” said Luca.
Luca is keen to get the point across that while their pasta is more expensive than what you would get at a store, it is still cheap. “People are happy to pay six dollars for a cup of coffee, so why shouldn’t they be happy paying $9 – $12 for a premium pasta that feeds four people?” said Luca. “It may not be for everyone, but it isn’t just a special occasion item either. It can easily be part of everyday eating. It is delicious and nourishing, and worth the money!”
Luca practices what he preaches, and there is rarely a day when there isn’t some form of pasta on his and Tine’s lunch or dinner table. “It is a little about quality control. I want to make sure the pasta is perfect, but I also know it is a quick and wholesome meal. While you are cooking the pasta, you can make a sauce, or buy one of our sauces too,” said Luca.
Island Pasta’s sauces come from treasured Italian family recipes, and from Luca’s time working as a chef. “It is the same approach as the pasta. If you put premium ingredients in, and give it the care it requires, you end up with a superior product.”
Island Pasta has branched out from the Mornington Peninsula to be stocked at stores across Victoria and even interstate. “We are keen to grow, but we will never forget what makes our products unique. We won’t mass produce. We just have to buy some more equipment so we can make more pasta slowly and carefully,” said Luca.
“For us it’s a matter of time.”
Luca and Tine have been on quite the journey. From Germany and Italy to Phillip Island and now to the Mornington Peninsula. The journey is set to continue, never forgetting that it is the long journey that makes it all worthwhile.
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