Foodpreneur

Foodpreneur:

Julia Conway

About the Foodpreneur:

The newest member of the Stella Cadente family is Mendocino County chef Julia Kendrick Conway. A devoted fan of Stella Cadente’s oils from her tenure as a manager at a local specialty food store, Julia was a natural choice to take the company to the next level. With culinary training from the Napa valley’s Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, and at a farm school in Tuscany, Julia brings a cook’s perspective and palate to product development and marketing. As a local leader for Slow Food, she believes that Stella Cadente’s local wine-country roots are an essential part of product’s identity. “As technology continues to separate people from each other and from their culinary roots, it is important to remember where our food comes from…” This is why the company’s expansion will always be tied to the sense of place established by the farmers themselves.

About the Stella Cadente Olive Oil Biz:

The name Stella Cadente sounds romantic, even if one doesn’t know that it means “shooting star” in Italian. Away from city lights in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County the nights are very dark, and the summer months bring a spectacular display of shooting stars. This was founders Sue Ellery and Tom Hunter’s inspiration for the names Shooting Star Ranch and Stella Cadente Olive Oil. Some compare this part of Northern California to Tuscany, and the extravagant vistas range from redwood forests to golden hillsides dotted with oak. The morning fog slides into the valley from the Pacific, taking the edge off the summer heat and providing an almost perfect climate for growing grapes and olives.

Founded in 1999, when the first three acres of olives were planted at the ranch, Stella Cadente went on to produce their first extra virgin oil in 2000 and won recognition from the International Olive Oil Council in Perugia, Italy, for being “…equal to or better than the best of the Italian oils.” From these proud roots, Stella Cadente has slowly grown to become the premier source for oils produced from Mendocino County’s unmatched Tuscan-style olives. Today, many of the olives used are sourced from small family farms and vineyards in the hills and valleys of the county, produced sustainably and independently, as are many of the regions well-known wines. Once sold only at local farmers’ markets, Stella Cadente is now found at select retailers across the country.

Number of Employees:

2-3

Clients:

A wide variety of retail and wholesale, consummate foodies

Marketing Strategies:

Stick to what we are, a small artisanal company that produces a sustainable, high quality product.

Fun Food Story:

In 2007, our olive harvest was very late due to a foggy summer. We picked on a cold, windy early December day, and it was late in the afternoon before we loaded up the 4 tones of olives and headed for the mill, an hour's drive over the mountains. When I had studied in Tuscany, we had enjoyed a traditional Zuppa della Frantoia (Olive Press Soup) with the newly pressed oil. Before leaving for the ranch, I had packed up a batch of this hearty, bean-based winter vegetable soup and a loaf of crusti ciabatta, with a small butane burner and a soup pot. By the time we started pressing, it was already dark and cold, and I fired up the soup in a back corner of the mill room. The owner of the press, myself and the two Italian apprentices enjoyed a steaming hot bowl of the soup, served over a slice of the bread and drizzled with a stream of the newly stone-pressed oil, just as it is done in mills all over Italy. It warmed the heart and the soul, and energized us to finish the pressing, the last batch of olives of the day.

Julia knew Stella Cadente Olive Oil was a hit when:

One of the four bingo card leads from the Chicago Spring Fancy Food Show, where our product was displayed as a Sofi Silver Finalist but we were not actually exhibiting, was a famous Food Network chef.

In the News:

National Geographic Traveler, The Street.com, Times of the Islands, Estylo!, The Nibble.com, Pottery Barn catalog (photo placement, not product sales), photo placement in a feature film (still in editing phase)

Why is Julia in the Food Business?

I love producing and selling a product that makes people happy. I spent 20+ years in the high-tech industry, and wanted to work in a business where people actually enjoyed the business and the products.

Words from the Wise (what you don't like about the biz):

Unlike Europe, American customers do not really recognize the value of quality, artisan products. We are spoiled by the availability of cheap, mass-produced and distributed foods, and do not really support our small farmers and producers as a viable part of our economies and communities. This is also why I am very active in Slow Food.

A Final Thought from Julia:

After giving up a fast-paced, highly paid urban lifestyle for a rural one, I would never go back!

Contacting Stella Cadente Olive Oil: 

 Stella Cadente Olive Oil
17451 Jade Court
Fort Bragg, CA  95437
(800) 305-1288
Website:  Stella Cadente Olive Oil