An unexpected Christmas gift is allowing a Centennial Secondary School student to put into practice some of the lessons she’s learning about entrepreneurship and finances in her Grade 9 business class.
It’s also earning her a few bucks along the way.
Gia Mattiazzo, 14, is one of the Pizzelle Pals whose thin Italian cookies are now available at Fratelli Bakery’s two locations, in Vancouver and New Westminster, after quietly launching with sales to friends and families and appearances at a couple of local markets.
While the other pal — Mattiazzo’s cousin — dropped out of the business just as they scaled up production and marketing to include a logo, a website and elegant packaging, she’s carried on her kitchen countertop venture with aspirations to eventually operate commercially.
Mattiazzo’s journey to Pizzelle profits started when she was gifted a Pizzelle press for Christmas. It’s a kind of waffle iron that compresses and heats a blob of sweet dough into a light, round, flat and small biscuit that’s a popular treat in Abruzzo, Italy, where her family is from.
Using a recipe passed down from her Nona, Mattiazzo and her cousin started making packs of Pizzelle for friends and family. They were so well received that they decided it might make a fun little business.
The young entrepreneurs packed little stacks on Pizzelle into cellophane bags tied with colourful ribbons to fancy up their presentation. They started an Instagram account and posted photos of their efforts to help spread the word.
To distinguish their product from mass-produced Pizzelle, they experimented with flavourings like strawberry, caramel, chocolate and root beer from Gourmet Warehouse.
Mattiazzo’s family were enlisted as taste tasters.
By the time her cousin moved on, Mattiazzo was fully invested.
And she bought more presses.
On weekends, when she wasn’t busy with dance classes or homework, she set up on the long kitchen island in her family’s home and baked about 30 Pizzelle every hour for four or five hours a day.
Then she’d spend some time packaging and posting her latest offerings on social media.
“Whenever I’m free, and not at dance or doing schoolwork, that’s what I’m doing,” Mattiazzo said.
To get her Pizzelle to new markets beyond family and friends, Mattiazzo made arrangements for a table at various markets like Italian Day in Vancouver.
One day, Mattiazzo received a message on her Pizzelle Pals Facebook page from Fratelli’s owner Marco Cornale. He liked her story and her initiative. Would she be interested in selling some of her cookies at his shops?
Mattiazzo said she was nervous going to her first business meeting with Cornale to discuss the arrangement, but she drew courage from the face-to-face interactions she had with people visiting her market tables.
“I like to be able to talk to my customers,” Mattiazzo said. “I can relate everything to my business.”
Scaling up production to supply the bakeries has come with valuable lessons about cost control and work-life balance, Mattiazzo said. She tries to keep the price of her Pizzelle low enough that kids can buy five of them as a treat, but she also packages multiple flavours in boxes and gift bags to appeal to adults as an indulgence or special occasion gift.
Having her cookies in bakeries renowned for their own Italian confections means quality control is of utmost importance.
She offers up three new flavours every month after considerable research to find the right balance of taste and sweetness. Broken cookies are distributed to her friends at dance class.
For now, Mattiazzo said, the venture is more about fun and learning than reaping profits. But she can foresee when that tilts the other way, so most of her earnings are poured back into the business to further streamline production or boost her marketing.
After all, Mattiazzo said, channelling an adage as old as business itself, “It costs money to make money.”
• To find out how you can order Pizzelle Pals, go to the company’s website.
