Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicola Buffo.
Hi Nicola, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Thank you for the opportunity to be here! My story—where to start? I was raised in a small town outside of Verona, Italy, and I started playing tennis when I was five. I’m a big dreamer, and I can’t hide the fact that I grew up playing for hours every day with the dream of becoming a professional tennis player. Tennis is pretty much all I did in my early days and I became good enough to start traveling Europe to play tournaments, which sparked in me a passion for traveling and seeing new places.
When I was 16, I applied to a program that gives kids the chance of study abroad. Although I wanted to go to Australia, visas didn’t work out, so at the age of 17, I left my home and moved to Minnesota (I know what you’re thinking—a big difference from Australia. I know. Locations were assigned randomly, but I ended up loving it). It’s not really a common thing to do for kids in Italy, and it was even less common (to use a euphemism) in my town. To give you an idea, people thought my parents had gone mad and were asking them why the hell they let their son move across the ocean for a year.
Flash-forward two years, I decided to leave once again to come to college in the US. I sent out about 100 emails to coaches asking for a tennis scholarship, and SCAD was the first to reply. I knew immediately I wanted to go there, and in September 2019, I started my B.F.A. in architecture, which lasted about three weeks. I hated drawing, and I had to do it for hours and hours every day. I thought of quitting, and I almost did, until I met Oscar Betancur, who was the chair of a newly launched program—social strategy & management. We had a chat and he said something that I still hold onto today: creativity is not just drawing and making pretty things; it’s also about coming up with impactful and bold ideas to change the way things are. I was sold to stay for an extra quarter, so I switched my major and enrolled in an advertising class, where Luke Sullivan convinced me all the way to stick to SCAD. It sounds crazy, but if it wasn’t for those two, I’d not have returned to Savannah after my first two quarters.
Anyways, January 2023—time to start my senior project. I’ve always had side projects and business ideas that I started and gave up on too soon and I wanted to leave my college experience with something that truly felt mine and that I could be working on afterwards. My partner, Francine Voit, and I have had a food venture idea for the longest time, and we decided to finally start it. I did a bunch of market research while Fran was experimenting in the dorm kitchen while also designing the labels and the brand’s visuals and on February 25th, we were at the local farmers market with three test products. With our sign showing our logo and tagline (pistachios’ reimagined), we sparked the curiosity of 200+ people at the market that day, who tried our product and loved it (aside from one person). So after this, and thanks to the push of two of my professors, Oscar and Julia Kemp, we set out to perfect the recipe for the Pistakio Spread and decided this was going to be our flagship product. We went back to the market two months later on April 15th, 2023, and we continued to go every Saturday for the following six weeks to sell the Pistakio Spread, even though we were still finishing up school. In only six weeks, we sold 150+ jars at the market and we gained so much perspective on what our customers wanted. We are currently taking a break from sales as we’re perfecting the recipe for making it shelf stable and scaling it. It’s been a hell of a ride, but we’re all in for this Pistakio journey.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I grew up believing that there’s no such thing as a crazy or impossible idea, but there are action plans to turn those ideas into reality. Opportunities are out there; we only need to seek them and fight for them. Leaving home and all my friends and family at 17 was exciting but not the easiest thing to do, as well as taking the train every day after school for three hours to go practice. Everything comes at a price, and along the way, I had to sacrifice some things in favor of others. But I’ve been beyond lucky, especially thanks to two parents that have been super supportive and open-minded. They definitely had a role in smoothing my road and for the bumps that I ran into, I tried to live them as opportunities to learn and grow with a smile on my face. Everything becomes easier if you find a way to make it fun, even launching and running a company without any business background.
We’ve been impressed with Pistakio, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
If you go through the grocery store aisles, you’ll find a bunch of nut-infused products, but none of them with pistachios. Pistachios are the most delicious and versatile nut and have a crazy amount of health benefits, yet they’re so overlooked and only eaten as a snack. Someone had to do something, so my partner and amazing chef Francine Voit and I created Pistakio, the first and only pistachio-based spread company in the US. We came up with a goes-on-anything savory spread that unleashes pistachios’ nutty and wholesome flavor. It’s made to be slathered, used as a dip, or eaten off the spoon. One of the best parts of it? It has no additives, preservatives, added sugars, or other fake stuff. Only ingredients you can pronounce.
We’re on a mission to redefine pistachios and give them the spotlight they deserve, and find disruptive ways to make the food industry more sustainable. We want to share our love for pistachios, along with an approach to life that is more “Italian” — a carefree-yet-caring and hardworking-yet-chill way of life that is centered around relationships, people, and good food (of course). Pistakio is a celebration of the deliciousness of pistachios, but also a symbol of the “nonni” way of life — going all-in for the things you love, but also finding the time to celebrate the little and mundane things of life that make us the happiest.
Other than co-founding the brand, I take care of the business and creative strategy, so anything that goes from finding suppliers to creating a content calendar for Instagram. I also come up with a bunch of ideas to push our venture forward and be disruptive in everything we do, which is definitely my favorite part.
you can keep up with our journey on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pistak.io/) and sign up to our newsletter on our just-launched website (https://pistakio.co/)
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I have a book addiction. I buy so many of them that, even if I read more than fifty books a year, I can’t keep up. They’re my favorite way to learn something. If, for example, I need to know something about sales, I buy myself a book (or three) about it and in a couple of weeks, I have some knowledge of the topic. I also love reading biographies of people I’m inspired by, as I think they also leave me with some sort of lesson. It’s not specific knowledge, but it helps me put myself in people’s shoes and learn from their mistakes and successes. Some of my favorite biographies I’ve read are the ones of Richard Branson and Phil Knight.
I’m also a big fan of podcasts, as I can listen to them while I bike and do other things that don’t require much thinking. Lately, I’ve been listening to Shopify’s podcast on entrepreneurship. I highly recommend it for anyone who’s thinking of running their own business or is even just interested in the topic.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pistakio.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatpistakio/
