Lay of The Land #231: Perry Stancato (Signature Sauces) — The Secret Sauce of Sauces
Perry Stancato is the founder and CEO of Signature Sauces and a third-generation operator of the beloved Cleveland institution, Stancato’s Italian Restaurant.
This conversation with Perry explores the entrepreneurial journey of someone who grew up in the family restaurant — from standing on a milk crate as a kid making waffles for Sunday brunch to running Stancato’s today while simultaneously building Signature Sauces into a premier national food manufacturing partner.
Signature Sauces began in 2005 with a simple idea: to bottle his family’s legendary red sauce after customers kept asking for it. What started as a way to serve Stancato’s loyal patrons quickly evolved into something much larger. Perry discovered that while retail was cutthroat and unforgiving, his passion and true product-market fit lay in foodservice — helping other restaurants scale their “secret sauces.” Today, Signature Sauces has grown into a company that helps make the products that make others famous, serving clients from local Ohio favorites to national brands like Bob Evans, Momofuku, Benihana, Barrio, and many more.
Alongside that manufacturing growth, Perry continues to steward Stancato’s — the restaurant that has been a Cleveland staple for decades. He reflects on the delicate balance of honoring a community legacy while making small, thoughtful changes to stay relevant across generations.
In our conversation, Perry shares the challenges of taking nearly ten years to get Signature Sauces off the ground, the resilience it took to keep going, the lessons learned from retail versus foodservice, and what he’s most proud of: seeing team members who started as dishwashers grow into leaders, and knowing his work helps thousands of diners enjoy meals every day. We also dive into his Ohio pride, from the region’s food scene to partnerships like the Ohio State Buckeye Tailgate sauces, and his perspective on what it takes to build a legacy business in Cleveland.
00:00:00 - The Legacy of Stancatos: A Family Business Journey
00:09:03 - From Family Recipes to Signature Sauces
00:12:49 - Navigating the Food Industry: Retail vs. Food Service
00:17:15 - Scaling Up: The Art and Science of Sauce Production
00:20:39 - The Future of Signature Sauces: Expanding Partnerships
00:21:55 - The Entrepreneurial Journey Begins
00:23:33 - Vision and Growth of Signature Sauces
00:26:10 - Lessons from the Restaurant Industry
00:29:10 - Balancing Time and Responsibilities
00:31:40 - Building a Legacy in Ohio
00:34:30 - Innovation and Technology in Food Production
00:37:08 - Trends in the Culinary World
00:39:44 - Understanding Risk and Success
00:42:22 - Navigating Customer Relationships
00:45:20 - Insights for Aspiring Food Entrepreneurs
00:45:35 - Reflections on the Journey
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LINKS:
https://www.signaturesauces.com/
https://www.stancatos.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/perry-stancato-799b16b/
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Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and over 200 other Cleveland Entrepreneurs.
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