He had almost never interviewed. It was not photographed. He did not graduate from any university, nor ever worked for another. He never put his image in a product or campaign. But he did what few people do: to affect the nutritional millions of people, without ever chasing reputation.
At the age of 87, James Leprino, the 85% of the mozzarella supplier used in the US, passed away.
The “Willy Wonka of the Cheese” as Forbes called him, he didn’t just became a billionaire. It became the face behind the most characteristic taste of American gastronomy, without appearing anywhere.
From a small grocery store in Denver, James saw the pizza become something like the national food of Americans, thanks to his mozzarella. And it became the quiet supplier of the largest chains in the world. His cheese is at 8 of the 10 pizzas in the US.
James Leprino: The man who put cheese on every American pizza
James Leprino was born in 1937 in Denver, Colorado and was the youngest of five children in a Italian family of immigrants from Pothasa. His father, Mike, opened a small grocery store in the city’s “Little Italy” in 1950.
In the rear room, the family made handmade Ricotta and Skamammama, selling to Italian immigrants. When his father died in 1958, the 21 -year -old then Jim abandoned every thought to study and took over the business.
At that time, the pizza was just starting to gain ground in the US, thanks to World War II veterans who had tried it in Italy.
Leprino saw the wave before it broke out and his decision to turn to mozzarella and pizza proved to be decisive.
Instead of selling cheese to consumers, it began to produce massively cheap, frozen slices of mozzarella for pizzerias. Pizza Hut was one of her first customers. Followed by Domino’s, Papa John’s and other, international chains.
The innovations
Using technologies he himself innovated, Leprino Foods reduced mozzarella production time from four weeks to four hours. He introduced the concept of Quality-Locked cheese and the famous “stretch” of the American pizza. His business recorded more than 50 patents.
In the 1970s, he exported for the first time whey in Japan, a by -product of cheese that turned into a world dietary supplement.
Today, the Whey Protein market is valued at $ 5 to $ 10 billion. By 2025, Leprino had a fortune of more than $ 2.1 billion, conquering the position of the 6th richest man in Colorado. He remained president of the company until his death, working on the same building block where his father had set up the first shop.
The legal dispute with his family
But his life was not without tension.
His nieces, daughters of his brother Mike Junior, led him to the courts, accusing him of deliberately downgrading their shares in the company. The case ended in favor of Leprino, in a rare public appearance – with a wheelchair in court in 2022.
Faithful Catholic, Conservative, Donor and Health Research Supporter, Leprino left behind his wife Donna, two daughters, two grandchildren and one grandfather.
As the Financial Times reports, in his only interview with Forbes in 2017, Leprino had said: “My success is a fairy tale.” A fairy tale on the background … the mozzarella.
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