David and Faythe DiLoreto were at a crossroads in their lives when they took a vacation to Italy back in 2011. "There came a time when we were looking to do something different," David explained to PBS NC. "We happened to make a family trip to Italy, not searching for anything there, but just fell in love with buffalo mozzarella when we were there."

Most Americans don't realize that mozzarella is made with water buffalo milk, and when they returned home to Rowan County, North Carolina, the DiLoretos discovered why: barely anyone produces it stateside. "We came home and realized that nobody was making it in the United States," David, a retired physician, recalled to the local news station.