Hailing from Soave, in the northern Veneto region, Zanchi arrived in Australia in the late 1990s.

At the time, he worked in the family leather goods business.

Having lived in South Africa for three years, Zanchi came to Australia to find leather that was sent to Italy for tanning and then returned to Australia to be sold to major fashion brands such as RM Williams and Diana Ferrari, as well as furniture factories and car companies.

In 2015, Zanchi decided to diversify his business; noticing an increase in the demand for high quality food products, he began importing artisanal pasta and flours, Vialone and Carnaroli rice, cured meats, polenta, truffle products, beer, wine and much more.

Over the years, he has organised wine tasting events, with the participation of the prestigious Italian Sommelier Association, and pizza-making courses.

Zanchi’s evenings have also included traditional dishes, such as cassœula and polenta (cassœula is a typical Lombard dish, similar to French cassoulet, made with pork and cabbage), bread, salami, panettone and vin santo.

Since Prosecco DOC became the official sparkling wine of the FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK), Zanchi has organised trips for delegations of professionals, including the media, to the Phillip Island Circuit.

Years ago, after a trip to Italy, Zanchi imported very high quality mother yeast to Australia and opened a bakery where he produces bread, biscuits and other goods.

Thanks to the research carried out by biologists and dieticians in Treviso, he has now begun importing pizza dough prepared with special flours, whose enzymes have been leavened so it doesn’t need to prove again.

The result is a delicious and easily digestible pizza.

At the sixth Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, held last month by the Italian Consulate in Melbourne and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne, Zanchi presented the Grani Antichi pasta produced by DaMonte Natural, a family-run farm with a long history behind it.

The company was founded at the end of the 19th century by the current manager Stefano’s great-grandfather.

Its products encompass both the past and the present: ancient grains are used alongside the principles of organic farming.

DaMonte Natural seeks to address biodiversity, the continuous increase in pollution, nutritional depletion, food contamination, the lack of clarity in the labels, the unequal distribution of profits and climate change.

At an event for the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, Tony Nicolini of Italian Artisans in Albert Park showcased Grani Antichi pasta, preparing some extraordinary helix-shaped pasta with pesto, which was delicious and perfectly al dente.