This past (snowy, cold, horribly long) winter, Casa Sorelle participated in two wedding shows as vendors. Honestly, as our first professional show, the set up was very stressful. Luckily, experience is the mother of invention and with two wedding shows under our belt, booth set up is now second nature to us!
We tried out a few different sample methods too. After our first day and with some trial and error, we found our display balance of individual paper cups vs large dipping trays. From a marketing point of view, it was invaluable research.
This weekend Casa Sorelle makes our first wedding show premier! Wow! It is a bit of risk and expense to prepare for a trade show and also a learning curve.
October and November are the buzzing months of the year. Throughout the valley you hear a hum of machines and see the colourful nets that cover the ground like autumn leaves. All the work, noise, nets and effort are for one purpose - the almighty olive!
After watching the amount of back breaking labour needed to create oil, I will never take for granted whenever I pour from a bottle. The whole process is intense! First come the nets. The nets are tied to the bottom of the trees and are wide enough to capture every wayward piece of fruit. (Yes, olives are fruit!)
When we bought our Italian property we knew it had been in the Paradiso family for a very long time. During our trip to sign the purchase papers, we met some of the children that grew up in the house. Buying a long time family home is emotional and we knew that our new family memories would be built on the foundations of those that came before us. We viewed it as a positive! From our perspective, instead of one heart, now the house has two family hearts, beating in common for the love of the land, the trees and that breathtaking view!
It would be too much of an emotional trip to detail the last few years without a lot of personal sharing that is a bit more private than this blog is meant for. The trials and tribulations within our family including the loss of loved ones are not my focus; however, I would like to say that there is always a light at the end of even the darkest tunnel.
Casa Sorelle made our farmer’s market debut!
After a chance meeting through a colleague we signed up for seven weeks selling our family olive oil at a new space in the financial district of Toronto. It was a bit of a snap decision having never sold our product at a market before. There was a mad scramble to condense everything we have accomplished in a 183 cm (6′) space. There was a lot to do and we went into “craftiness” overdrive. We only had a week to get ourselves organised and had to address a whole flood of design questions. For example if we are going to get signs printed, what should they say?, what font do we use?, what colours? If we were to offer samples – do we offer bread? if so what kind of bread? How do we cart everything to and from market?
It has been another busy week with yet another debut! After having a chat with our friend Jennifer about our olive oil, we arranged a last minute home demonstration for her long standing wine club. It was a spur of the moment decision and what a great time!
It would be the first time Steffanie and I spoke together telling our story to strangers. This project has been so much a part of our lives that trying to condense our story was a challenge! My friends know I love to talk and it is easy to forget to breathe!
