L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano O pening up a box we don't know the content of: isn't that magic? It's like going back to our childhood's Christmases, to all those moments of joy and expec- tation that used to fill the hours before opening our gifts. And what if, under that color- ful paper, we'd find delicacies worthy of a king, flavors we'd like to try but never had the opportunity to, or ancient ones, those tied to our past and to memories able to turn us once again into a child or a teenager? Because we all know that fla- vors, just like music or scents, can do just that: they can project the present to what was and what will be, every single time. That's why the food boxes proposed by EatTiamo, a new Made in Italy startup, have been so popular: in them, you'll find a pinch of tradition, a dash of curiosity and the dream of giving to everyone the possibility to try for real what proper, good Italian food is, through carefully selected products and recipes, di quelle come si deve. The idea is simple: proposing to the public gift baskets or subscription boxes dedicated to a specific Italian theme, region or dish, containing also recipes to use the products. The EatTiamo project is fresh, vibrant and, as we said, very successful indeed. This is why we at L'Italo-Americano are very happy to have a chat with Giada Isolani, a member of the EatTiamo team, to learn something more about the com- pany's history and mission. Giada, tell us something more about the EatTiamo team… EatTiamo was born from an idea by Francesco Pelosi and Nicholas Figoli, already foun- ders of the creative agency Sun- TIMES, based in Milan and La Spezia, the city where they were both born. Francesco graduated in Law and is also general mana- ger of an Italian-Japanese cycling team. Nicholas holds a degree in Marketing and worked for L'Oréal, both as marketing manager and in product develop- ment. Maria Gonzalez, our general manager, also worked at length as a marketing manager and in product development for the L'Oréal group, as well as the Salvatore Ferragamo brand. Our team, young but with consolidated experience, also includes art director Serena, digital strategist Alberto, web developer Marco and I, Giada, the copywriter. Moreover, thanks to the sup- port of the Sun-TIMES commu- nication agency, we can count on the skills of professionals in the creative-digital-administrative field. How did it all begin? In 2013, Nicholas worked for L'Oréal in Paris. As soon as he moved to France, he realized how difficult finding good, decently priced Italian food could be. I mean, for someone from Liguria, seeing a jar of pesto going for almost 7 euro (about 9 USD) is a true shock! That's when the idea of crea- ting and developing a market- place for small Italian produ- cers came about, with the aim of offering them an online platform to sell their products and, at the same time, to valorize their work. We started selling in Italy and then abroad, always wanting to bring authentic, fairly priced products to all Italian food lovers around the world. In 2015, we became part of the H-Farm startup incubator. We created a value network, going from five to eighty produ- cers and, in 2016, the Ceretto family decided to invest in our project and we became part of Food-X, the most important American food companies' acce- lerator. In New York, we deci- ded to change our model and embraced the idea of the sub- scription box, for which we are today mostly known. Indeed, your boxes are ama- zing, filled with carefully selec- ted products, coming from equally carefully selected pro- ducers. Do you follow a specific process make sure everything is perfect? Every month, we offer a selection of high quality Italian ingredient to create a full meal for four people, along with the recipes to make it. To be able to do it, we created a network comprising more that 100 pro- ducers, all of whom we met personally. We visited each and every company, we touched the raw materials and produce and we saw how all the products are made. Most of all, however, we listened to their stories and got to know what's behind each pro- duct we offer. Every producer has his or her own story to tell, but all of them share the same profound, unconditional love for their land and their job, and this is exactly what we try to convey to our customers around the world. Our boxes are not filled sim- ply with "products," they are fil- led with emotions and extraordi- nary stories. How's the feedback you've been receiving from the US? Feedback has been enthusia- stic, with many recognizing and appreciating our work. Our customers are particularly fond of the variety of our products and of their uniqueness, because the vast majority of them cannot be bought in store in the US, especially outside of the biggest cities. People also love the fact our products are "full size" and not samples, which means you can actually use them to cook more than one meal: at the end of the Summer, we received a photo from a girl who is still using the olive oil from our June box! But in the end, if it's good real extra virgin olive oil, you only need a couple of drops. Last but not least, our custo- mers like also the tutorials and the recipes we add to each Subscription Box: you see, they are for both expert and beginner cooks, so both experienced chefs and total neophytes can make a proper, delicious meal from scrat- ch! Beside the Subcription Boxes, EatTiamo also offers very cool gift baskets, dedica- ted to Italian regions or cities — I think, for instance, about the Cinque Terre or the Romeo e Giulietta Baskets — as well as some of our most typical habits, like aperitivo and, of course, caffé. How do you select what goes inside these baskets? Italy truly has an extraordi- nary culinary tradition: every region is filled with famous reci- pes and products all to discover. We want our customers to embark in a true culinary jour- ney through Italy with our boxes, so they can see and expe- rience the wealth and variety of local cuisines, which are often flattened or distorted abroad. At the same time, we also focus on the seasonality of our ingre- dients and products. In August for instance, we proposed a basket dedicated to aperitivo, because in the Summer often you don't really feel like cooking and prefer finger food and refreshing drinks. With our carefully selec- ted box, we managed to pass the important message that Italian food doesn't necessarily involve long hours of preparation nor complex recipes. If you have the right ingredients, you can make something light and of great qua- lity, to have with your aperitivo. Some other EatTiamo boxes have been created to follow spe- cific trends of the American market, without forgetting thou- gh the importance of selecting authentic, high quality products, to keep in line with our mission. The Italian Detox Box, for instance, has been created to meet the needs and require- ments of customers suffering from food allergies and intoleran- ces or who are simply after "healthy food." We offer white maize pasta, eggplant sauce, extra virgin olive oil and arti- chokes cream among other things, all representing an idea of wellbeing that brings together flavor and nature, fragrances and pleasure. Once we decided the box's theme, we ask for the help of chefs and food bloggers to select products that are of extremely high quality and in line with the rest of the Box's content, so that our customers can create a balan- ced, complete meal. Believe me, it's harder than it seems! Last but not least: does the team have a favorite box? All of our boxes are the result of plenty of research and hard work. Beside finding products and producers, we have to work on the whole communication side of the project, from our web- site to social media. Really, con- sidering the dedication we put into every box, it's difficult to pick one. However, if we really have to, we go for the Cinque Terre box: as Ligurians, we must see pasta al pesto win! In the Cinque Terre box we also included a real local delicacy, la stroscia, a cake typical of Liguria made with only a hand- ful of ingredients, demonstration that, when you have excellent raw materials, you need very lit- tle to make a sensational dish. Just like getting a piece of Italy home every month: here's EatTiamo! FRANCESCA BEZZONE Cooking real, wholesome Italian meals with authentic products is no longer impossible thanks to the EatTiamo boxes (Copyright: EatTiamo) LIFESTYLE FASHION FOOD ARTS ADVICE LANGUAGE

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