Five years after building a national following around premium pasta sauces, Carbone Fine Food is stepping into the condiment aisle. The chef-driven brand debuted Italian Chili Crisp on September 8 — its first product category beyond sauce — with two varieties landing exclusively at Whole Foods Market, priced at $13.99 for a 6 oz. jar.
Both varieties are built on a 100% olive oil base and position themselves as a distinctly Italian answer to a condiment category that has exploded across foodservice and retail over the past several years. The Calabrian Chili Crisp leads with front-of-the-tongue heat from Calabrian chili, balanced by red bell pepper, onion, and garlic. The Aglio e Peperoncino takes a milder route, drawing on green bell pepper, hot pepper, onion, garlic, and parsley for a crisp, vegetal profile with moderate zest — inspired directly by a dish on the Carbone restaurant menu.
A Strategic Category Shift
For operators and retail buyers tracking the chili crisp segment, Carbone Fine Food's entry signals continued premiumization of a condiment that began as a niche pantry staple and has since attracted significant brand investment across specialty and natural grocery channels. Co-founder Mario Carbone framed the launch as an extension of the brand's core proposition: "With the Italian Chili Crisp, we're giving people another way to do that — a hero product that can make a meal feel special."
CEO Eric Skae positioned the move as deliberate portfolio building rather than a one-off line extension. "We're continuing to build a pantry of products that deliver the quality, flavor and culinary point of view people expect from Carbone," he said. The versatility pitch — pizza, pasta, grilled meats, fish, and vegetables — is squarely aimed at households looking for a restaurant-quality finishing touch, a trend our beverage and food industry analysis has tracked as a sustained post-pandemic behavior shift.
Retail Rollout and Activation
The Whole Foods exclusivity at launch follows a well-worn path for premium food brands seeking early velocity with quality-oriented shoppers before broadening distribution. Carbone Fine Food will also sell through Amazon and its own direct-to-consumer site, giving the brand three distinct sales channels from day one.
To drive trial and awareness, the brand is hosting a series of invite-only pizza nights in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago — co-presented with Capital One, which is offering eligible cardholders ticketed access through its Capital One Entertainment platform. The NYC event opens September 17 at Lucali, followed by Los Angeles on September 29 at Prince Street Pizza, and Chicago on October 6 at Dimmi Dimmi. The experiential format ties the retail product back to a live restaurant context, a strategy that mirrors the brand-building playbook increasingly common among chef-driven restaurant brands expanding into CPG.
For food and beverage industry professionals watching the licensed and chef-branded retail segment, Carbone Fine Food's category expansion underscores how restaurant IP continues to carry commercial weight well beyond the dining room — and how premium condiments remain one of the most accessible entry points for that crossover. Food & Beverage Magazine has covered the broader chef-to-retail trend as one of the defining retail food narratives of the decade.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
