November was the month for Italian Cuisine Week which, for a family of Italophiles such as ours, is definitely something to celebrate. What better way to do so than to mark the first anniversary of the innovative Ciao Gusto consortium?
And where better to mark the occasion than at the magnificent Italian Embassy?
We spend a significant amount of time in Italy since we first discovered it for ourselves during what was supposed to be a one-off tour-of-a-lifetime around the country. We fell in love with it so much that we can’t stay away. What is not to love about Italy? I mean, the fascinating history gives our home-educating
(travel-educating?) family more educational resources than we can ever fully use in one lifetime, the country is stunningly beautiful with a distinct style and characteristic of each region, the people are so incredibly welcoming, exuding love and warmth unlike anywhere else we have known and the food is… well it’s just…
We’ve been travelling to Italy to discover the stories behind the companies that produce the best food and drink in the country and from grappa to salads to olive oil, the one recurring theme is that their roots lie in family. Family is a strong theme in Italian culture. There is nothing more important than family and the belief that the best way to nurture and love your family is through food.
We agree.
Which is why we love the concept behind Ciao Gusto so much. Ciao Gusto is the ambitious project created by Italian Consortium Italia del Gusto. This private consortium has sought to bring together the products from over 30 established food and wine companies.
Italia del Gusto wanted to spread Italy’s love of food across the world, with the neither quality nor affordability being compromised. This led to the launch of Ciao Gusto’s collaboration with Ocado, an ambitious project which would see the launch of an informative, fully-integrated shop-in-shop platform.
The new e-commerce initiative has proven to be a great success, despite it only having been implemented a year ago. Ocado shoppers can click through to the Ciao Gusto ‘shop’ within the Ocado website and choose from more than 300 authentic high-quality products that exemplify the best that Italy has to offer.
And remember what I said about Italy and family? This is another vital component to the values behind Italia del Gusto and the Ciao Gusto brand: every company is either family-owned or a cooperative company. Behind every single company within the collaboration there holds a personal history comprising hard work, authentic values and a personal commitment to quality.
If the original founders would not consume the products themselves, would not give them to their own families and did not strive for the best quality they could be, every single one of these products would have ceased to exist a long time ago.
Both the products and the values have withstood the test of time.
For more information about the Ciao Gusto range including recipes and the story behind each of the brands click here. It really is well worth a visit if you want to know more about the stories behind the food. If you just want to let the food and drink itself do the talking, click over to the Ciao Gusto store on Ocado. And if you fancy a little inspiration, why not try a couple of our own recipes that we’ve created with one of the Ciao Gusto brands, Cirio? Click here for a wonderful Greek recipe called Patates Yahni with Keftedes, or here for a delicious Patatas Bravas recipe.
Thank you to Ciao Gusto for inviting us along to this fantastic event. Happy Anniversary to you!
