Il Negozio Nicastro

What Il Negozio Nicastro does

Il Negozio Nicastro is a family-owned Italian specialty food retailer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, operating two brick-and-mortar storefronts in the Wellington Village (1355 Wellington St. W) and Glebe (792 Bank St.) neighborhoods. Founded by Salvatore Nicastro in 1972 as an evolution of the original Nicastro Bros. Food in Centretown, the business is currently operated by the second generation of the Nicastro family (Robert, David, Lisa, and Michael). It serves individual Ottawa consumers, corporate catering clients, and event/party planners through three integrated offerings: a cheese boutique positioned as one of the largest selections in the city (covering Canadian, European, and local artisanal producers); a deli featuring nitrate-free in-house roasted meats, charcuterie, and prepared specialties; and a prepared-food line (lasagna, fresh pasta with homemade sauces, salads, sides) intended for take-home heating. A dedicated catering service handles corporate lunches, lunch boxes, cheese and charcuterie platters, appetizers, and Italian favorites via phone (613-729-9100) and email ([email protected]).

The core product set is built around in-store cheesemongers, in-house roasting, and family-passed Italian recipes rather than proprietary software. The company's only meaningful technology is a Shopify-powered website at negozio.ca that hosts menus, contact information, hours, a customer account portal, and seasonal offerings (e.g., a Valentine's Day menu), but does not currently support online ordering or delivery. There is no mobile app, no API, no proprietary platform, and no third-party integrations in the source data.

The business model is transactional retail and catering, with pay-as-you-go unit pricing across the menu (e.g., classic paninis at $8.99, artisanal paninis at $11.99, cheese boards from $70 to $130, lasagna at $54.99, lunch boxes from $16.95 with a 6-box minimum). Distribution is exclusively direct: walk-in retail at the two storefronts plus phone/email-driven catering orders, with no delivery, no wholesale, and no third-party channel partners identified. Marketing is limited to the Shopify site and word-of-mouth driven by 50+ years of brand heritage in Ottawa's Italian community. The company is privately held with no external investment, no parent entity, and no subsidiaries.

Name

Il Negozio Nicastro

Legal name

Il Negozio Nicastro

Website

https://negozio.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Il Negozio Nicastro is a family-owned Italian specialty food retailer operating two storefronts in Ottawa, Ontario, selling artisanal cheeses, nitrate-free deli meats, prepared Italian dishes, and offering corporate and private event catering services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Italian Specialty Food Retail

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRAHAKAC

Cold Prepared Foods & Meal Components (Sides, Proteins, Family Meals)

Consumer Products & Retail/Grocery & Food Retail/Foodservice-to-Go & In-Store Prepared Foods (Grab-and-Go)

SECONDARYAFAKAHAF

Deli & prepared foods (retail/foodservice pack) manufacturing

Agriculture & Food Production/Food Processing & Manufacturing/Prepared Meals, Ready-to-Eat & Convenience Foods Manufacturing

Keywords

• Italian specialty foods
• Artisanal cheese retail
• Italian deli meats
• Prepared Italian meals
• Italian catering services

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Retail Food Sales: In-store retail sales of Italian cheeses, deli meats, prepared foods, and specialty Italian grocery items at two Ottawa locations.
2. Catering Services: Corporate and event catering including panini platters, artisanal cheese and charcuterie boards, lunch boxes, appetizers, and homemade Italian dishes like lasagna. Minimum order requirements apply for many items.
3. Prepared Foods: Fresh prepared Italian foods including pasta with homemade sauces, lasagna, vegetarian sides, and salads available for takeout to enjoy at home.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Il Negozio Nicastro is a brick-and-mortar Italian deli and cheese boutique that retails imported and artisanal cheeses, nitrate-free in-house roasted deli meats and Italian charcuterie, and ready-to-heat Italian prepared foods across two Ottawa locations. It also operates a catering service supplying panini platters, lunch boxes, cheese and charcuterie boards, antipasto, and homemade Italian dishes for corporate lunches and private events.

Product overview

Il Negozio Nicastro is an Italian specialty food retailer operating two locations in Ottawa, Ontario. The business offers a comprehensive portfolio of Italian food products and services centered around four core offerings: a Cheese Boutique with one of the city's largest cheese selections, a Deli featuring nitrate-free in-house roasted meats and Italian charcuterie, Prepared Food for ready-to-heat Italian meals, and Catering services for business lunches and events. The product portfolio spans retail food products (cheese, deli meats, prepared foods) and catering services (platters, lunch boxes, appetizers, Italian favorites like lasagna and sliders). The company was founded in 1972 by Salvatore Nicastro and is currently operated by his children Robert, David, Lisa & Michael Nicastro.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Catering Service Italian-style catering service offering panini platters, customized lunch boxes, artisanal cheese and charcuterie boards, antipasto, appetizers, sliders (Cichetti), salads, and homemade Italian dishes (lasagna, meatballs, chicken parm, sausage and peppers) for corporate lunches and private events.
• Cheese Boutique Retail assortment of imported Italian, European, and local artisanal cheeses supported by in-store cheesemongers and available for catering platters.
• Deli Retail deli counter offering nitrate-free in-house roasted meats (porchetta, roast beef, turkey breast, smoked pork loin), homemade smoked sausage, smoked salmon, duck confit, and classic Italian charcuterie such as Parma prosciutto and spicy soppresatta.
• Prepared Food Ready-to-heat Italian prepared meals including fresh pasta with homemade sauces, meat and vegetable lasagna, vegetarian sides (rapini, bean salad, roasted butternut squash) for convenient home dining.
• Valentine's Day Menu Special seasonal Valentine's Day menu featuring curated Italian culinary offerings.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Eataly: Global Italian marketplace combining retail, foodservice, prepared foods, cheese counters, and catering — overlaps Nicastro's Italian retail/prepared foods categories but at vastly larger scale and as part of a broader multi-category concept.
• Dean & DeLuca: Premium specialty foods retailer with curated cheese, charcuterie, prepared foods, and gift/catering offerings — comparable premium specialty positioning but at much larger scale and broader assortment than Nicastro.

Direct peers

• Di Bruno Bros. Philadelphia-based Italian specialty food shop and cheesemonger with retail locations, catering, prepared foods, and charcuterie — a near-perfect analog to Il Negozio Nicastro's model of imported Italian and local artisanal cheeses, deli meats, and prepared foods sold through a curated boutique experience.
• Murray's Cheese: Iconic New York cheese shop with multiple retail locations, a wide curated cheese selection, charcuterie, and prepared foods, plus catering offerings — directly comparable to Nicastro's cheese boutique and deli-led retail format.
• Zingerman's: Ann Arbor-based specialty food business with a deli, cheese counter, prepared foods, mail-order, and catering — comparable multi-category specialty food retailer with strong brand storytelling similar to Nicastro's Italian heritage narrative.

Regional players

• Pusateri's: Toronto-based Italian and specialty fine foods retailer with prepared meals, deli, cheese, and catering — the closest Canadian peer operating a similar Italian specialty boutique and foodservice model, but serving a different metro (Toronto vs. Ottawa).
• Bottega Volpe: Canadian Italian specialty food store offering imported Italian groceries, deli, cheese, and prepared foods — comparable curated Italian product mix, though primarily serving western Canada rather than Ottawa.
• Faubourg du Trésor: Montreal-based bakery, deli, and specialty prepared foods shop with catering — comparable neighborhood deli/bakery format and catering services, but operating in Quebec rather than Ontario.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/il-negozio-nicastro

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Il Negozio Nicastro