Debuting gelato push pops wasn’t the first time Janine Bruno transformed her business.
In February 2016, at age 30, Bruno was diagnosed with breast cancer while working in business development and sales for a jewelry company. Over the next year her entire life was continuously “uprooted” as her long-term relationship ended, her grandmother in Sicily died, and she was laid off.
“I was in a pretty dark place, pretty depressed, trying to just figure out who I was, where I was going,” said Bruno.
Her cousin visited from Sicily toward the end of 2017, and the two started making pasta. She began hosting “pasta parties” where she’d teach making Southern Italian handmade pasta. For Bruno, the hands-on practice was “therapeutic,” and most people who attended agreed.
As the workshops gained popularity, she gave herself a two-year timeline to build up the business she dubbed "Homemade by Bruno" and took another job in the interim. By the end of 2019, the pasta parties were generating more income than her full-time job, so she left.
That New Year’s Eve, she flew to Italy to begin developing authentic culinary tourism excursions to expand her brand. Then Covid-19 happened, and she spent months staying afloat through private catering and cooking for a client list that included Philadelphia Eagles coaches and executives.
Last November, an industry contact urged her to apply for the World Masters gelato competition in Los Angeles after someone dropped out. Now she's headed for the competition's American finals.
“Nothing bad usually comes from stepping out of your comfort zone,” Bruno said.
Bruno is now hand making up to 1,500 push pops per week with the gelato machine at String Theory Charter School at 1600 Vine St. In exchange for equipment access, she teaches a gelato workshop to high school students.
She sells her products at pop-up events at Herman’s Coffee, located in her Pennsport neighborhood, and other spots, or schedules pick-up orders from the school. A lot of her time goes toward developing exclusive gelatos for local restaurants.
Esteemed Thai eatery Kalaya, for example, has three unique push-pop flavors: Thai tea caramel black pepper, Thai chili vanilla, and jackfruit coconut pandan sorbet. For South Philly restaurant Ember and Ash, Bruno developed a pig’s blood gelato, a traditional Southern Italian dessert inspired by the grandmother of one of the restaurant’s chefs. Sorrentino Pasta and Provisions in Ambler recently started carrying Bruno's classic flavors.
Bruno is self-funding the push-pop venture, but would potentially be open to an investor down the road. She’s seeking a roughly 1,000-square-foot retail space to open a flagship brick-and-mortar, and is eyeing the Pennsport and Queen Village neighborhoods. In addition to selling push pops and pints, she envisions the store hosting parties and interactive events where people can create their own flavors.
In the future, she hopes to expand her brick-and-mortar presence both in Philadelphia — perhaps in the Rittenhouse Square area — and other major cities, like New York.
