With December and the holiday season, Table stories open their doors. The idea of creating this small corner of my website was born as a need to share more than just a simple recipe with you. To share interesting and inspiring articles and give a voice to many ideas and beautiful projects out there.
Thanks to the beautiful world of Instagram, I have had the pleasure of discovering so many fascinating accounts, new companies, talented creatives, and find inspiration in their stories. A few months ago, I was scrolling my Instagram feed, and suddenly I stumbled upon a picture of simple, elegant granola boxes and a girl who was packing them. She had a big smile on her face, and Mimina written on her apron. With so much interest, I looked more closely at her Instagram profile.
Mimina Granola was a newly opened business, this young girl from Santa Sofia ran by herself. Organic ingredients, sustainable views, the beautiful family story behind the brand name. I had to know more about it.
After a few emails, Francesca and I were talking on the phone, casually as old friends, sharing our thoughts on slow living, food, and how is to live as an entrepreneur these days. Today, I am happy to share her beautiful story with you, along with two delicious recipes where I used her granola products. High-quality ingredients, great combinations, and exquisite taste make Mimina Granola so versatile, and you can use it in many recipes, both sweet and savory.
In fact, I added a little bit of this delicious crunchy granola to my Holiday Spiced Panna Cotta with Poached Pears and Cacao Hazelnut Granola and combined her Cinnamon Apple Granola with my Roasted Pumpkin Apple Cheddar Soup.
Both recipes are ideal for winter and holiday season, and I really hope you will give them a try. Francesa also left a little gift for you just in time for Christmas, so make sure to read through and get your discount code at the end of this article! This crunchy, healthy granola makes a perfect Christmas gift for all granola lovers you know!
Without further due, I hope you will enjoy reading her story.
Table stories with Francesca D’Antonio from Mimina Granola
I have always thought of myself as 100% Italian, but now that I live in Italy, it seems to me that I am rather a mix of all the cultures that I’ve experienced since my childhood. I was born in Germany, where I spent my first childhood years, after which we moved to Korea. During my high school years, I lived in Florence, Italy, but then I moved to London to pursue a carrier in the art world and study curation and criticism of art at St. Martins. At the same time, I received a merit-based scholarship for the Asian Art Masters at SOAS. I was called to become a research associate for a year after my studies but also started working at my dream company: Christie’s. It was incredibly stimulating, challenging, and exciting to be part of one of the top auction houses of the world for three years.
However, after years in a cosmopolitan city, I felt a need for a change – I needed to reconnect with my family, nature, and listen to my inner needs, which resulted in my moving back to Florence. I felt weakened by my hectic London life and had a strong need to nurture myself physically and mentally. I decided to live my life at a slower pace, enjoy walks in nature, do yoga, and cook. My art-related part-time jobs at the time allowed me to experiment a lot, and it was actually in these months that my granola business started showing its roots and awaking interest of my family and friends.
Office colleagues started requesting to buy my products, and soon my oven was making small batch production for my eager clients. Their interest made me look more closely into this market and do my research on the possibility of starting a granola company. I found there was a gap in the market, as all other granolas sold in Italy at the time were imported and industrial.
“ I wanted the granola to be just as I knew it: hand made, with a small list of organic ingredients selected and assorted in order to facilitate a slow energy release. ”
Mimina Granola came to life thanks to the joined efforts. I’ve created my recipes with my friend nutritionist, my bags were designed by another friend who is a graphic designer, and my production has started thanks to a local baker who kindly offered his space for the production.
Since then, I rekindled with a dear childhood friend who became my husband shortly after our first year as a couple. Marrying Amedeo thus far has been the most significant success in my path since founding Mimina.
The company is currently run by me alone. I have special assistance from friends who specialize in specific areas (be it graphic design, marketing, production) who I turn to in order to help me create the company that I envision.
From Art Studies to being an Entrepreneur
My sister and I always played around with millions of ideas as young girls, and we had a notebook where we designed our fictitious companies! I have never had it in mind as a serious goal when I finished University. It was more of a natural progression to what I felt I needed and what thankfully the market seemed to lack at that particular moment.
Being an entrepreneur is incredibly challenging. I am not going to try and say the opposite because it would be simply insincere on my end. I have moments in which I feel very vulnerable, and these moments are challenges to test my determination and bravery. As a woman, it is essential to stand tall and show your capability to simply be. You have the right just like anyone else regardless of age or gender, and this is something that will not be put into question if you are the one setting that rule. I believe the difficulties today are mainly bureaucratic and organizational. My biggest challenges are the unclear paths one must go through to get to seemingly simple endpoints.
It is good to listen to other people’s opinions, and it is necessary to evaluate the facts. When this still doesn’t seem like enough material to decide, you must remember that each decision molds and shapes your company. Always make a decision your heart is comfortable with because no one can replace your vision, and no owner has a magic book of answers. Determination is key. Looking at the world around you is key. Never stop exploring when you are creating your ‘baby’.
High-quality organic ingredients as a priority
Mimina is a brand that I want to grow as a hub where you can find the highest quality Italian artisanal products. I want to expand my online store and offer complementary products such as breakfast bowls, which are officially available on our website. 🙂
My granola is made with a base of oats, linseeds, and agave syrup. This is a solid base to keep low blood sugar levels and help give a slow energy release. Agave has a very low glycemic load, and oats are metabolized in a way that their nutrients are released slowly into the body.
I select my organic ingredients from around the world to have the best from each country. My cereals are Italian like my hazelnuts, oranges, and apples. I buy agave from Mexico and cranberries from Canada. These are a few examples of products that these nations can be proud of!
Production is artisanal small-batch cooking in ovens at low temperatures. Simple as that.
The story behind Mimina Granola name
The name is very special to me. My grandfather used to call me Mimina as it is a nickname in my area. It means ‘my little one’. He was a very special man for me, as his simplicity, calmness, and love for the culinary world made him a great pillar of my life. He used to work for Ferrero as a salesman, and he often had boxes of products to load and unload.
The day I brought the boxes of granola products into my grandmother’s home, she had a déjà vu of grandpa Gilberto, and we all had the same thought: he would have had so much fun seeing me, working on something so similar to his job. I think of my grandpa daily, and I know he is guiding me from above.
Going back to the roots – the beauty of slow life in Santa Sofia and Emilia – Romagna
I feel incredibly blessed that my parents took us back two times a year to Santa Sofia. It was my anchor and home away from home. It was my month of joyful summers in the streets and days of snuggly Christmas family time. Thanks to my mother’s necessity to bring us back to her hometown so often, even if we lived far away, it made me feel like I had routes in Italy. It is for this reason that I have this strong connection to Santa Sofia and, similarly, Florence. My mom lives in Florence now. She has been there for 14 years, and it is most definitely a place I consider home, but then again, I think the same of Esslingen, Seoul, and London. I guess home has a particular meaning in my mind. I love the nature surrounding Santa Sofia, and I love the culture here. Santa Sofia and Florence are only 2 hours by car, and Santa Sofia is at the edge of Tuscany. Many cultural things are shared, and some are unique to each. I find Italy simply fascinating for this. Each region, city, town has something unique to themselves, wholly recognizable to the newcomers.
“RICORDATI CHE LA VITA È BUONA.”
Remember, the life is good.
– MY MOM
To me, slow living means living the ‘here and now’ and living the present in a way that does not put the industrial/electronic world at its forefront. It means giving importance to the hand made, to the organic, to the sunsets without capturing each one with a cell phone. It means taking the time to appreciate what we have and having the time to be grateful for it.
Little heaven for Granola lovers
Before you leave, take a look at how you can use granola and prepare something different and tasteful this holiday season. Visit Francesca’s website www.miminagranola.it and shop your favorite granola or gift it to a granola lover you know! Francesca offers many gift ideas such as gift boxes, cereal bowls, a wast variety of organic granola, and muesli. If you would like to see which ones I used, check the recipes below.
Use the discount code HUNGRY APRON SP on your checkout, and you will get free shipping as well as a free bag of delicious salty granola, perfect for Christmas soups or salads! All you have to do is reach €50, add salty granola “Sale e Pepe” (90g package) to your chart and enter the code we provided. Happy granola shopping and happy holidays!
Roasted Pumpkin Apple Cheddar Soup
with Apple Cinnamon Granola
Holiday Spiced Panna Cotta
with Poached Pears and Cacao Hazelnut Granola
Holiday Spiced Panna Cotta with Poached Pears and Cacao Hazelnut Granola
Francesca D’Antonio, owner of Mimina Granola
A family story, commitment and a big heart of the owner, are only some of the things that describe Mimina Granola. Francesca D’Antonio, an art expert and entrepreneur from Italy decided to share her story with us and tell us more on her path to becoming an entrepreneur and building a Granola business. Learn more at www.miminagranola.it and follow Francesca on Instagram @miminagranola.