From Farmers Markets to Supermarkets: Big Pasta Sauces Sold In Union County

A local line of pasta sauces were once only sold at farmer’s markets across the Garden State, including in Summit, Cranford and New Providence.

Now the Hoboken Farm’s all-natural, locally-made Big Pasta Sauces are now available at Whole Foods, Shop Rite and Kings supermarkets.

“We are selling more sauce than I ever thought,” said Brad Finkel, owner of Hoboken Farms. “We sell around 10,000 cases a year.”

A huge seller now, Big Pasta Sauces actually were created as an afterthought for Finkel when creating his business with Hoboken Farms.

He started the business in 1992 when many of his family and friends who moved away from his hometown of Hoboken began asking Finkel to bring bread and mozzarella to them when he visited.

From there he tried selling his products at a farmer’s market in Englewood. He showed up with 50 pounds of fresh mozzarella and 50 baguettes.

“We sold out in an hour,” Finkel said. “The next week we sold out in a half hour. Then farmer’s markets began opening all over New Jersey and low and behold we had a business.”

Finkel now sells his products at 30 farmer’s markets per week across New Jersey. He has expanded from selling mozzarella and bread to ravioli, pasta and more.

Customers began asking Finkel for a sauce to go with the pasta and ravioli and that’s when the Big Pasta Sauce line was born.

“It took me 20 years to perfect my marinara sauce and 20 years for my vodka sauce,” Finkel said.

He started selling the Big Red Marinara (chunky red sauce balanced by lots of pure olive oil, plus the garlic and onion and Big Boss Vodka (plum tomatoes, heavy cream, parmesan, romano, a pinch of red pepper and filtered vodka), which became instant hits.

He has just launched his new Big Basil Sauce, which is the same base as Big Red Marinara with 10 times the amount of fresh basil.

“My grandmother made a great sauce, but mine is much better,” Finkel said.

Finkel then began to expand his market area by selling his sauces at Whole Foods, Kings and now ShopRite. The sauces will hit the shelves of local ShopRites on April 29.

Here is a list of local farmer's markets that Hoboken Farms will be at:

• Summit - Sundays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. - DeForest Avenue and Maple Street
• Cranford - Sundays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. - NJ Transit Train Station, South Avenue East
• New Providence - Wednesdays 12 to 6 p.m. - 360 Elkwood Ave

To find a list of Farmer’s Markets where Hoboken Farms will be sold visit www.hobokenfarms.com.

(Photos provided: Brad Finkel with his son, William at a farmer's market)