Angelo Caputo's Fresh Markets celebrate 60th Anniversary

Angelo Caputo's Fresh Markets, family owned and operated since 1958, is proud to be celebrating its 60th anniversary.

What began as an Italian immigrant looking to live out the American dream became the Caputo family business, which now includes seven stores throughout the Chicagoland area.

A factor in the business' success is the diverse assortment of high quality, international, traditional, healthy and organic foods, together with hard-to-find specialty items.

Founder Angelo Caputo opened the first market in a 3,100 square foot storefront in a quaint neighborhood in Elmwood Park. He began the Caputo family early morning tradition of obtaining farm fresh produce - some of which comes from as far away as Michigan or Indiana - and offering it on the shelf that same day.

He created the company's private label, La Bella Romana, which translates to "beautiful Romana" in honor of Angelo's wife who was an outstanding cook. Her legacy lives on in these products and also in the prepared foods offerings of the Caputo's stores, where all dishes are made from scratch and without preservatives using old world recipes.

Other unique offerings of the Caputo's stores include periodic cooking classes and the annual summertime Battle de Vino contest where customers can submit their homemade wine for judging. The company is also an active contributor to the Northern Illinois Food Bank, supplying over a million meals last year.

The stores, located in Addison, Bloomingdale, Elmwood Park, Hanover Park, Naperville, South Elgin, Carol Stream, employ more than 1,600 people.

For contributions to the food industry, Angelo Caputo's Fresh Markets was honored by the Illinois Food Retailers Association with its Illinois Food Industry Leadership Award in 2017.