A tale of Sicilian taste and beauty: this is Christmas 2022 narrated by Di Stefano, the Raffadali-based Sicilian confectionery company.
Protagonists of the brand’s signature Christmas are the postcards of Sicily in which stories of flavors, beauty and collaborations between companies, artists and producers who have chosen to live and work on this island are told.
Di Stefano is a Story of Sicily
Di Stefano’s story was in fact born in Raffadali, in the province of Agrigento, where brothers Settimio, Benvenuto and Enzo, have chosen to value their roots by enhancing them in the flavors of tradition to give life to high quality confectionery excellence.
Handmade techniques, the search for the best Sicilian raw materials, the elimination of the superfluous in the recipe and the experimentation of new combinations of ancient and modern are the secret of the goodness of their products.
Di Stefano is the custodian of the Sicilian confectionery tradition: each specialty (panettone, colombe, jams, marmalades and creams) is taken care of in detail throughout the entire production phase, from the conception of the recipe to the packaging of the product, to savor Sicilian genuineness on festive occasions.
Pantelleria Zibibbo Raisin Panettone
One of this year’s postcards of Sicily takes us to an island in the island, namely, Pantelleria, which inspired the new Christmas 2022 flavor, the Pantelleria Zibibbo Raisin Panettone: velvety and fragrant on the palate, this particular type of grape, wrapped in the soft dough expresses its natural sweetness and its distinct crunchy note of seeds inside. Even its packaging – like all those of the leavened products – echoes in shape the idea of the bread envelope closed by hand with a drawstring, and for the colors it draws on that of the main ingredient of panettone, in this case, the brick red of Pantelleria raisins.
“The new Pantelleria Zibibbo raisin flavor,” says production manager Enzo Di Stefano, “is the result of teamwork between the research and development department and production. We have always aimed at the enhancement and promotion of local raw materials, but the fact that we have a long experience does not make it an automatic and easy process. I am not only referring to the fine-tuning of the recipe, but also to the search for local producers and the creation of an entire supply chain that allows us to produce our panettone cakes as we have conceived them. While the limited-run panettone sounds like a novelty, its taste on the palate invites us to rediscover the flavors of yesteryear, careful not to betray both the traditional recipe and our quest for authenticity.”
An Authentic Heritage
Sicilian Postcards were born from Di Stefano’s desire to make known Sicily, its history and its territorial excellences that have always inspired their productions. From this precise idea, the “Postcards of Sicily” campaign kicks off, now in its second edition developed by Industria 01, the agency in charge of Di Stefano’s visual identity and communication strategies, for which it also received the One More Pack 2022 award in June for Sicilian panettone packaging.
Sicily holds a heritage of culture, art and traditions that needs time and dedication to be fully known. Departing from Agrigento, the colorful Sicilian cart revisited in a pop key – the protagonist of these shots – touched the cities of Palermo and Catania, posing in the most famous and identitary artistic places. The journey into the universe of ancient pastry traditions and authentic flavors continues in this 2022 with the new brand identity and the arrival of new packs for products that are more typical, colorful and light than ever.
An Island in a Dish
Sicily, an island with a strong and eclectic personality, the result of a mixture of cultures, traditions and landscapes, has fascinated Roberto Longo, born in Campania but Sicilian by adoption since he chose to move to Alicudi and use the island’s name as his stage name (Contessa di Alicudi Schifanoja). His limited-edition “Che Isola!” plate paired with the magnum panettone formats portrays an ideal, dreamlike volcanic island from which lapilli of fruit emerge, silhouetted against the blue of the sea and sky, giving a play of colors and flavors somewhere between reality and imagination. Painting on glass becomes imprinted on a bamboò board, processed by Laboo, a Sicilian company that protects this wood considered the planet’s green gold for its physical properties̀ promoting reforestation projects in the Mediterranean area.
A Sketchbook of Characters Collectible
Another signature interpretation of Sicily is the one made by Sandra Virlinzi, aka Sdrina now in her second collaboration with Di Stefano. The white background of her collectible tin takes up the idea of the sketchbook, of the artist’s diary of notes as she wanders around the city jotting down suggestions in the form of images. The colors refer to the rock contemporary world of tatoo, cartoon strips, drawing as sketchbook and strongly contrast the opulence of Di Stefano’s pack carts. An ironic language – that of comics – with semi-serious characters with a clear reference to Sicily: San limone and the others created ad hoc for this special limited edition capsule collection.
A Vision the Grows
“The year 2021 was a year of growth in the confectionery market,” explains Fabiana Principato, trade marketing manager for Di Stefano, “which is increasingly focused on Made in Italy. Despite the difficulties of finding raw materials and the price increases felt, last year was full of confirmations from our consumers. The latter are increasingly informed and choose, not only genuine products made with quality and local raw materials, but also products that are attentive to social and environmental effects. The year 2022 sees a further increase in the costs of raw materials, packaging materials, transportation, logistics and energy.
For Di Stefano, these are years of intense and important changes that have proven the internal ability to adapt to new situations. We never stopped and put new projects on track: new e-commerce, strengthening of our brand identity and opening to the international market. Being back “in presence,” having the opportunity to meet with our national sales network, which is a valuable resource for us, allowed us to share the vision of our projects and goals and to listen to their feedback and proposals, a source of inspiration and encouragement. For us, teamwork is extremely important, and Di Stefano’s Christmas Limited Edition project is proof and synthesis of this.”