The Taste of Umbria

Aim

WE need YOUR support to help kick start & deliver wonderfully delicious Italian food and wine from Umbria, to Italian food lovers in the UK

VISION

When we are up and running we want to be: THE FIRST CHOICE ONLINE STORE FOR: delicious, high quality Italian food products from Umbria, followed by other key regions such as Parma, Puglia, Tuscany. Then, we will introduce gastronomic countries such as France and Spain, so there is scalability in the concept for the long term eg: The Taste of Umbria, The Taste of the Dordogne.

LOVE ITALY, LOVE ITALIAN FOOD, LOVE UMBRIAN FOOD

We need to walk before we can run!
To begin with we will start with wonderful Umbrian pasta called Strangozzi, tagliatelle and a range of delicious, flavour packed sauces - asparagus, broad bean and pecorino, Hot Umbria sauce, artichoke and truffles & mushrooms called tartufata sauce to wild boar - packaged into a range of special offer boxes. Initially our products will be branded with our suppliers labels but when up and running we intend to have where possible The Taste of Umbria labels. Our Taste of Umbria brand identity is complete and ready to be launched!

A basic test website was built purely for research so when we build the next stage website we have our feedback from a range of potential customers - this is what one had to say during the test:

Love delicious Italian food but no time to prepare!
Paul does and this is what he had to say:
'I love Italian food and there are not many delicious meals you can prepare in 10 minutes. The sauces are absolutely wonderful.' 
Paul Withers, Oxfordshire

When we are up and running!!
Our medium to long term aim is to build an online store selling a full range of high quality traditional and absolutely deliciously tasting Italian food products from Umbria. From wonderful PASTA, delicious SAUCES, healthy PULSES to divine local TRUFFLES - fresh and preserved. And it does not stop there as there will be tasty EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL to tempting traditional SWEET THINGS to the famous Umbrian WINES from Orvieto to Montefalco and much more. We are also committed to adding organic products to the range where possible and in the long term fresh food products such as cheeses, salami, hams and much more.

Umbria is known as the green heart of Italy and our products totally reflect the flavours and colours of the magnificent region. They are high quality and made to traditional methods mainly by family owned producers.

WHAT IS THE MONEY FOR?

A test website exists and we need to build a website taking on board all the feedback from the research. And we need to add more products. The money will be used for:

- brand identity - completed - no costs at this stage for design

- new website rebuild (Phase 1 - programming only) including back office £7,000

- online/offline marketing £10,000

- stock and storage £4,000

- product photography £3,000

- packaging materials including box printing £3,000

- own brand labeling for the sauces range only at this first stage £3,000

Total required is £30,000

OUR TASTY REWARDS?

We have some very tasty rewards when you pledge £20, £75, £150 or £350 or £2000 so please take a look at the reward section. From Classic Umbrian Pasta (Strangozzi) to Wild Boar, Asparagus, Hot Umbria Sauce to Tartufata a combination of Mushroom and Black Truffle to Panforte Umbria to scrumptious wine. Also when you become a supporter and pledge you will receive a discount on purchases.

CUSTOMER VALUE PROPOSITION

Our customers lead busy lives and cooking a delicious meal can become difficult, as time is at a premium. The Taste of Umbria products enable you to cook wonderfully delicious Umbrian (Italian) food in under 15 minutes for yourself, your family or friends, without hours of preparation. Products are sourced from producers who have an absolute commitment to producing high quality food products made in the traditional Umbrian way. In the near future there will also be a range of organic artisan products.

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?

Many of the Italian online food stores sell big brand products that you can buy in the major supermarkets. The Taste of Umbria products are sourced from artisan suppliers who make their products in the traditional way and are mainly family businesses. The Taste of Umbria website will be regionalised so that customers can buy different products from key regions of Italy such as: Umbria, Tuscany, Puglia etc and eventually other countries such as France and Spain.

HOW DID IT ALL START?

I am Welsh with an Italian mother from Assisi in Umbria and my father was Polish - they met just outside Assisi (Santa Maria degli Angeli). They were married in the Basilica of St Francis. My father came to the UK after the war and moved to South Wales to work in the coal mines. My mother followed on afterwards and the rest is history!!

My love of all things Umbrian, especially Umbrian food goes back to my early days living in Assisi and growing up in an Italian kitchen. I have been surrounded by family who cook wonderful simple food with delicious flavours. My mother made pasta at home and I grew up with pasta drying on a table top or on the backs of chairs. My aunt Cesira makes food from a kitchen no bigger than 10ft x 6ft that when you smelt the aromas coming out of that kitchen they stay with you for life. My uncle Sandro was a chef and boy oh boy he was good - he did a stint at the Savoy after the war and went back to Italy and started his own food business. And lastly I dedicate this website to my aunt and uncle Anna and Giovanni - Anna was a Chaperone to a Countess and spent most of her adult life in Rome and Giovanni was a policeman.

On a recent visit to Umbria I was sitting having dinner: Strangozzi and Tartufata sauce as my pasta starter and decided I wanted to bring these deliciously wonderful flavours of Umbria to the UK and other parts of the world.

ABOUT UMBRIA
Umbria is known as the green heart of Italy due to its rolling landscapes, medieval hill towns, dense forests and fertile land. Simplicity is the key in Umbrian cuisine as it relies on excellent seasonal produce, particularly mushroom; truffles; vegetables; cereals & pulses such as lentils and chickpeas; spelt, poultry, meat, game and stunning Umbrian wine. The Taste of Umbria brings to your door the very best Italian food products from Umbria and the traditional pasta from Umbria - Strangozzi.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 28th March 2018