With more than 1.1 million Aussies claiming Italian ancestry and the boot shaped peninsula among the top travel destinations annually, it’s no wonder the cuisine is winning a place on our Christmas tables.

Third generation family business LaManna has been working overtime this festive season from its Essendon Fields’ headquarters to meet the demand for their handmade panettone, cannoli, tiramisu, scrolls, lasagna, seafood and much more – ensuring families across Melbourne can celebrate Christmas with traditional Italian flavours.

Set in a previously unutilised building at Essendon Fields – used in the war for the production of Beaufort aircraft, and afterwards as a workshop for airline TAA – LaManna has become a culinary destination so compelling that it draws weekly footfall from across Victoria.

In the lead-up to Christmas even more so, LaManna at Essendon Fields has been transformed into a festive wonderland with a festive archway on entrance, joyful decorations throughout and the aroma of festive baked treats enticing customers to source festive essentials, dine together and experience the buzz of the season. The Essendon Fields store is widely regarded as one of the largest independent, family-owned supermarkets operating from a single site in Victoria.

LaManna Chief Executive Officer Patrick LaManna says underpinning everything the business does is family. His family and nurturing other people’s families and the community through sponsorships. The motto is “Family Matters”.

Team members are encouraged to treat every customer as if they were their own mum – offering genuine help, respect and advice.

“If a customer was to ask you a question … If that was your mum, how would you like someone to respond to her? Treat her with respect and offer the service that she is looking for,” Patrick explains.

“The answer is very simple: treat her like your mum.”

Many of LaManna’s core products, like the popular lasagna, are based on traditional family recipes handed down within their family, ensuring that festive meals feel authentic and heartfelt.

Patrick, who follows in the footsteps of father Vince and grandfather Pasquale, says LaManna represents a unique meeting point of community, food and history.

“We recognise every customer as part of the extended family, and those values shine through. From the way staff greet regulars to the joy of gathering around great food, especially during the festive season,” he says.

“This commitment to a strong, family-driven culture ensures high-quality customer service, transforming a transactional supermarket visit into a memorable, personal outing. This generates the powerful, low-cost marketing of word-of-mouth and customer advocacy.”

Patrick says the LaManna family has a strong connection with Essendon Fields, stretching back over 75 years, rooted in a moment of arrival and hope.

“Actually, as we’re sitting here, I’m looking out the window right in front of me where they’re building a new hangar,” Patrick says, gesturing airside. “That used to be the international terminal for Melbourne back in the day, well before my time. And my grandfather, Pasquale, landed here at this airport and walked through that terminal in 1948.”

“The first thing he saw before he even saw his father for the first time in 10 years was this building. So, our story is full circle where the first thing he ever saw in Melbourne was this building and now, we’re back here.”