About Us

Ciolo Foods

Founded in 2006, Ciolo is based on a few simple principles.  We wanted our “specialty” products to be healthful and preservative-free as well as, well, “special”.  We also wanted delicious products that would be as appropriate for a fancy party as they would be for making every day meals something unexpectedly good.  And, we believed that our workplace should be fun, challenging and rewarding for ourselves and our employees.

Founders

Ciolo founder Curt Tellam has been in the food business for nearly twenty years.  He developed his palette for fine foods in the 1980’s as a sales rep for a distributor of imported Olive Oils, condiments and spices.  In 1997, he founded a successful manufacturing company that created five varieties of Hummus and over a dozen other dips and spreads.    Today, he is not only responsible for all operations and distribution at Ciolo, he is also known as “Coach Curt” to the dozens of 10-12 year old boys he coaches in football.  

Co-founder Mallory Kates spent over 25 years in the corporate world, first as a writer/creative director and later as a marketing executive for high tech companies.  As her collection of over 200 cookbooks – a few dating to the 1960’s -- attest, Mallory was always interested in food and cooking and for years brought one food business idea after another to her friend Curt Tellam to consider.  Ciolo Foods is the result of the duo’s commitment to the world of specialty food, to doing delicious things and doing them well.

Environmental Commitment

It really IS possible to be a manufacturer and also environmentally responsible.  From our efforts to use wind power, to our determined recycling of all the cans and paper we consume, to our search for the most bio-degradable plastic containers available, we strive to run a business that allows us to look the future square in the eye when we say “we care.”  Which we do.  And we hope you do too.