Ambassador kit for Grange 27, an SVA DSI student project.

1. BRAND AMBASSADOR BOOK

3. Welcome to the Grange!
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5. Thank You
Dear Brand Ambassadors,
Thank you for becoming part of the Fiore Di Nonno and
Grange 27 family. That's right – I said family.
For me, family is everything.
I grew up in a big
Italian family in New Jersey – the type of family that sits
down to a five-hour meal each Sunday. Food, laughter
and love were taken very seriously! At the helm was my
grandfather who owned Fiore's of Hoboken, a cheese shop
make mozzarella in the same style and tradition as my
grandfather. It's been a long journey back to my family's
history and to those moments I loved as a child. I value
family, tradition and community, and my businesses – Fiore
Di Nonno and Grange 27 – carry on these things that
matter most.
Since you are inspired by my cheese, my store and my
that his father, an Italian immigrant, started in 1913. As
story, I hope you will be able to do the same – to live a life
watch him stretch the cheese until it was just right, and
you to the things you love.
a child, I was mesmerized by my grandfather's store. I'd
my mouth watered in anticipation of the moment when
he'd give us a little bite of his fresh, warm, salty and hot
mozzarella. When my grandfather retired, he sold the
business outside the family. Our craft was nearly lost.
I always loved food and wanted a career in the
industry, but never thought about carrying on my family's
rich tradition. I started my career as a pastry chef with Le
where your fondest memories and your deepest values lead
I'm honored that you're now a part of the big,
boisterous, cheese-lov ing brand ambassador family.
Welcome!
Lourdes Smith
Lourdes Smith
Cirque and I baked at Iggy’s Breads of the World, but my
career appetite wasn't satisfied. I went back to school and
earned a master's degree in health education. I tried my
hand in the corporate world with stints at Panera Bread
and Marriot. I even spent two years as a technical support
engineer for Microsoft.
Suddenly, I was at a point where my career path and
my memories collided.
I knew, without a doubt, what I
wanted to do next. I knew I was going to learn how to
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6. Brand Background
Community. Family. Tradition.
In many ways, we’re looking backwards to move our
business forward.
The grange concept is about community, family and
tradition. Our new retail space is a reinvention of an oldfashioned grange.
Unfamiliar with the term grange? Traditionally, a
grange is a place for communities to gather and discuss
agricultural issues. But the grange is more than a place – it’s
a movement. It all began in the decades after the civil war,
crop prices were falling, costs of transportation soared and
Did you know?
The purpose of the Grange is to “Provide opportunities
for individuals and families to develop to their highest
potential in order to build stronger communities.”
- Journal of Proceedings (2006)
a nationwide financial crisis crippled growth.
Sound familiar? Today, our economic system is still
recovering from huge shocks and we don't know the real
value of the food we eat or its origins. Our food system is
broken. We will repair it through community.
Unlike the granges of yesteryear, we have the tools
and the technology to connect and organize. But our
communities lack dedicated places where we can gather,
learn and discuss our food systems with neighbors.
As a brand ambassador, you will discover how dairy
farms work and the impact a community can have on
an industry.
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7. Are you ready, Grangers?
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8. The Cheese Process
All of the cheese served at Grange 27 comes from the
original Fiore di Nonno recipe. The first step is making
curd at local daries.
Cows graze adjacent to the Atlantic at the Shy
Brother’s Farms in Westport Massachusetts. The variety
of soil and fresh salty air determine the quality of the milk,
along with the season and diet of the cows.
We took all of this into consideration when developing
her curd with farmers from Shy Brothers. It took 27
batches to get it perfect – that’s the “27” in our name.
Curds are coagulated milk. Heating milk and adding
acid causes the proteins to form solid masses, or curds, that
can be separated from the liquid whey. Once the curds are
made, they are delivered to our kitchen where the expert
cheese makers get to work right away. They break up the
curds, temper and cook them. They stretch it and shape it,
creating the magical elasticity in all of our mozzarella. The
cheese is then divided into balls and finished in salty brine.
At Grange 27, the majority of our cheeses are made
and served the same day. Especially with mozzarella,
nothing beats freshness. We recommend an early morning
trip to our kitchen to try some mozzarella as it’s made,
warm and straight out of the brine, there is nothing like it!
But beware; we start cooking at 5am!
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9. Our Team
Lauren
Lauren has been a cheese maker at Fiore di Nonno for over
two and a half years. Lauren loves food, being in nature
and working with her hands. She is also a certified holistic
health counselor and herbalist, and tries to live as close
to the earth as possible. Working at Fiore and learning
this artisanal craft has only deepened Lauren's connection
to the local food movement. She strongly believes that
people are nourished most by food that grows close to
home and she is honored to be a part of a growing and
supportive community.
Korsha
Annie
Korsha is the newest member of the Fiore di Nonno cheese
Annie has been a cheese maker at Fiore di Nonno for
of America and has worked in restaurants for 10 years in
literature, and making forays into baking, bartending,
making team. She is a graduate of the Culinary Institute
many different roles. When she's not at work she's cooking,
eating, or writing about food and the people that make it.
Her favorite quote: "After a good dinner one can forgive
anybody, even one's own relations" - Oscar Wilde
two and half years. After receiving a degree in English
serving, and farm work, she was finally drawn to cheese
making by the challenge of learning a new and difficult
craft. When not making cheese, Annie travels to the
far reaches of the world to spread the good cheese word.
They often say that no vegan is safe in her presence.
They are right.
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10. Meet the Shy Brothers
With a nickname like the Shy Brothers, the four Santos
brothers live up to their reputation! As 3rd generation
farmers dedicated to good stewardship of the land, they can
grow nearly anything in the rocky Massachusetts soil they
tend, and they even make their own gourmet cheeses!
The Shy Brothers are two sets of fraternal twins,
Arthur and Norman the older pair, and Kevin and Karl the
younger. Together they do everything on the farm from
milking cows to fixing machinery to working the farmers
markets.
At a local agriculture meeting, the Shy Brothers met
“There is this whole culture of people who are grounded
that we don’t know until we get to know farmers. They are
at peace, know everything is going to work out…and every
one of them lives on the edge [financially]. They know what
they want. This is what Leo and I are fighting for, for the
community, to keep that intact.” – Barbara Hanley
Kevin keeps it simpler: “Mother Nature knows what she’s
doing and we just work with her.”
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Barbara Hanley. As a new Westport resident, Barbara was
shocked to learn the rate at which dairy farms in the region
were closing. Barbara and her husband Leo Brooks decided
to help the Shy Brother’s out in any way they could. Now
they’re partners in cheese making.
The boys are pretty shy, but they believe that what we
eat matters, and put that care into everything they make.
Be sure to stop by if you’re in Westport, it’s a short 90 min
drive from Boston. Barbara loves talking about cheese and
giving tours of the farm.

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13. Keeping Our Farms Alive
Through our cheese making and purchases, we are keeping
farms like the Shy Brothers in business. With competition from
agri-business and very low prices set for each gallon of milk
produced, the little guys cannot succeed without people like you,
who value independent businesses and handcrafted products.
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14. Vision for Growth
By now, you k now ou r va lues and what we stand for.
And you know that we can't do it alone.
It takes a community.
As a conscious consumer and brand ambassador, Granger,
you will build our movement to change the food system.
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15. Plan for Advocates
Why join the Grangers?
Who you are
What you’ll do
student or neighbor. Bring them to the table and share
- Keep yourself informed with our webinars, book club and
You have amazing talents, whether you are a cook, blogger,
your expertise with each other. We’ll show you what
we do best, too. We are not only cheese makers; we are
designers, social media experts, strategists, and farmers.
- Use our action list for unique ideas to spread our message
movie night
- Connect with the community online and in store
Most importantly, we care about the same things and have
a network of people to connect you to. That's the power of
community.
What connects all you Grangers? You care.
You f ight for what you believe in, you recognize that
community matters and you cheer for the underdog. You
care about the food you eat. You don’t compromise on taste
and you're curious to learn more about your food – where it
comes from and who makes it.
Collectively, we have the purchasing power and the
voice to transform our global food business into a local food
network. To us, buying local just makes sense. We believe
food best when we make it in our own kitchens or in the
kitchens of our friends.
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16. What Kind of Granger are You?
Chef
Blogger
Neighbor
with
take a
relationships and
new
collaborations
a unique story
to tell
you can
original recipe
for Grange 27
help with events
to build
you have
but needs more
develop an
to meet
and to
or has
tons of experience
other chefs and
restaurants
support community
and
in training
class with
Lourdes
loves food
readers
with
skill and taste
who is
who
social media savvy
or
or
post interviews
with community
members
to
new ways to
incorporate
Mozzarella
host contests
with give-aways
on-site access
or
pitch us ideas
increase
relationships
and get
lots of friends to
introduce us to
help us
incorporate your
stories into our
own
we become
one of your
“regulars”
you will
make more friends
Become a Community Builder!

17. Social
Entrepreneur
Designer
Other
who has
you
big ideas
big ideas
design ways to
and
and
work together
event ideas
create collaborations
with
that
incorporate our
customer’s stories
let’s
come up with
through
that can
and
business savvy
creativity
graphics
bring people into
our community
tell us!
with
so we both
grow and form
new partnerships
your endeavor or
another local
business
to give
opportunities to
those less fortunate
and
spread our message
to make
a BIG impact
Become a Community Builder!
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18. Spread the Word
Ready to shout it from the rooftops? Here's how you can
spread the message of the modern day grange:
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Post an article about the food system to our granger
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Talk to a farmer or a foodie. Write a blog post about
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Facebook group.
what you learned.
In the mood to review? Write Grange 27 a review on
Yelp and Trip Advisor!
Meet up with your friends at Grange 27! Why keep
all that blissful cheese to yourself?
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Share your own story about your experiences with the
•
Plan a weekend visit to a local dairy farm.
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food system.
Teach a child how to cook a simple meal or help
prepare food.
Create your own taste test. Buy different cheeses and
milks at various prices and see whether or not you can
taste the difference.
Contact Lourdes with a book or movie suggestion for
fellow grangers.
Have friends who've visited our shop? Ask them to
Not local? Not a problem!
Milk a cow.
neighborhood by encouraging sustainable practices, eating
write about their experience, too.
Try other made in MA products.
Host a farm-to-table dinner. Share with your guests
the process of getting farm fresh food and the costs
Spread the modern day grange concept in your
locally and building solid relationships with chefs, farmers
and food suppliers near you.
per-person. We g ua rantee your g uests w i l l be
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•
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Get to know someone you wouldn’t otherwise meet.
Give Fiore Di Nonno cheese as your next gift.
If you know someone interested in the values of Grange 27,
Create your own cheese of the month club. Try a
as much as we cherish good cheese.
impressed by what you know.
Share your favorite recipe with a friend.
cheese you've never heard of every month to expand
your palette.
Try your hand at paring cheeses yourself.
Pack a picnic using sustainable containers.
introduce them to us! We cherish good partnerships almost

19. Your Challenge
Transfer what you're learning.
While you're building the Grange 27 movement, remember
to apply what you're learning to what you love most.
Maybe you signed up as a Granger to learn about the farm
to table process. Maybe the food system is your passion or
you're a dairy farmer yourself!
W hoever you are and wherever you come from – we
hope you've learned to the importance of the power of
community, the strength of honest partnerships and the
power that a movement can generate.
Now go do.
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22. 561 Windsor Street, omerville, MA 02143 | (617) 764-1231 | info@fioredinonno.com
S
www.grange27.com