Lindsay Marie Morris

Hugo Gallardo enjoyed his job for the first 20 years of his marketing and advertising career. But at some point, he says, the fun just started to fizzle. Instead, he faced a mundane sequence of meetings, results, new business, travel, more meetings, more results, more business, and more travel. Then his wife, Annalisa, got pregnant, which made him really rethink all the meetings and travel. He was in his forties and knew he needed a change. 

"I got involved in distillation as a hobby while I was living in Australia," Hugo says. "When we started to think about what we wanted to do with our lives, we put things together. The hobby was becoming a passion."

 

Today, that drive has led him to co-found Alma Sicilian Artisan Distillery. The company produces Mater Rum and Mater Gin from sugarcane grown in Sicily, an important center of sugar production under Arab rule. 

Hugo and I spoke about Sicily's sugar history and Alma's start. He shared more about his sugarcane crops and distillation process. The former marketing executive knows how to tell a good story, something that's bound to help as the company aims to expand beyond Italy. 
 

Tell us how you got started.

I read a lot about distilling history and how the spirits we know right now have become what they are. My passion for advertising was getting lower, and my passion for distilling was increasing—the history of the different spirits, raw materials, and the agricultural parts of the raw materials. So, we decided to open a small craft distillery. The original plan was to open it in the Philippines.

But long story short, the Philippines got closed for COVID, and I got stuck in Sicily because my wife is from Sicily, and we came here to spend some time with her parents before we brought their granddaughter to the Philippines.

 

We left our housing in Milan and quit our jobs, and I started to rethink the original plan because we didn't know when they would reopen the Philippines. I had to make a decision. I decided to try to open in Sicily.

 

When I started reading about rum, I discovered sugarcane had grown in Sicily for seven centuries. So, I thought we could try it; there was good storytelling.

In the beginning, it was more of an act of faith because we didn't know where to get the seeds, if sugarcane would grow, or if the yield would be good enough to produce something in industrial terms. So, we started doing some trials.

Meanwhile, we found the warehouse when we built our distillery, and we started to buy everything we needed to be operative and then progress. It was full COVID time, so everything was closed. You had to make all the requests by email, and it was a complete pain because everything was slow. So, after three years, in January 2021, we got all the permits, and the distillery was able to start production in April of last year.

 

Co-founder Annalisa Spadaro

 

Without a background in agriculture, was farming sugarcane a challenge?

To be honest, sugarcane is an easy crop. It needs water, and it needs to be fertilized, but it's a very resistant crop. We are located outside the historical cultivation zones. There are a lot of problems with being out of the historical cultivation zones. Still, there's an advantage in that there are no diseases because there are no other sugar plantations. We cannot be infected by bacteria or fungi or whatever. 

The big challenge for us is harvesting. We have to do it by hand because it doesn't make sense to mechanize such a small plot. We are actually cultivating three hectares, which is nothing in terms of industrial production. Economically speaking, it doesn't make sense to mechanize the harvesting. And that requires a high investment in energy, work, and money.    

 

Sugarcane harvesting is done by hand.

Why did sugarcane disappear from Sicily?

The main reason was that America happened. America was discovered in the 15th century, and on his second voyage, Columbus brought with him slave labor. The soil was perfect; there was much more water available. So, the sugar in Sicily was uncompetitive in the market since American sugar was much cheaper. It wasn't profitable anymore.

 

What shocked me was that it had completely disappeared from the island's culture. The names of a few areas around Palermo are etymologically related to sugarcane, but I was curious to discover that first, no one knows about sugarcane cultivation, and second, the sugarcane industry has no remaining buildings or presence on the island.  

 

Alma Sicilian Artisan Distillery's Sampieri plot

 

You grow in Sampieri and Marina di Modica. How do the unique soil and climate characteristics influence flavor and quality?

Marina di Modica was the first plot; the soil there is almost white and retains much more water than in Sampieri, where there is red soil. Even if they are five minutes apart by car, the sugarcane grows quite differently in both places. In Marina di Modica, it is much taller, but in Sampieri, it's a little bit shorter and has a really salty flavor. We want to keep both because the first one is for our gin, and the second one, the Sampieri one, provides us with this salty olive characteristic.  

 

Yellow and purple sugarcane

 

You grow two varieties of sugarcane: purple and yellow. How do they contribute to the final product?

We are still learning about our raw products because it's the second year, and we are making some changes this year. We are using a single distillation, so the final product is different. We still have to better understand whether the difference is because of the sugarcane or the distillation method. However, the main difference is that the yellow cane has a strong olive smell, and you can feel it in the nose and the mouth. It also has this salty touch in the mouth.

The purple has this touch of wildflowers and marmalade but also truffles.

They are very different in terms of bouquet. Yellow cane is much fresher and saltier and provides our rums with something we really like: this salty olive profile. 

 

 

Alma Sicilian Artisan Distillery is the only distillery in Italy that grows and processes sugar cane directly.

 

What is unique about your fermentation and distillation process?

We are not reinventing the wheel. There is a lot of hype about natural fermentation and spontaneous fermentation, and it's something that I would like to try in the future. The thing about that is that you completely lose control of your fermentations. So it could be nice, or it could be a complete disaster.

 

Since we don't produce that much product, we wanted to start safely with the fermentation process. Last year, we used yeast; this year, we decided to change it, and we are using wine yeast.

 

We changed because the rum yeast was selected to pump certain esters and, of course, the most easy-going esters—banana and pineapple, the kinds of flavors that everyone loves. We decided to use a much more neutral yeast that shows the raw product. And we are very happy with the result.

Then, in distillation this year, we are using a small column of six plates. It's a column that we can switch off every plate. We can decide if we use the six plates, just four, or just one. It is very versatile. We just did a single distillation using the small column. Since sugarcane is a very rich raw material by itself, we felt that going with double distillation, we lost something. So, we decided to go through just one distillation.

 

Mater Rum: Made in Sicily with Sicilian plants

 

What experience do you hope to share?

There are two levels of experience. One is the people who come to the distillery; they immediately become brand ambassadors because of the location and how we work, sharing our passion, history, and what we're trying to do. I'm pretty sure the people who leave the distillery after a tasting or visit enjoy the moment. One hundred percent think that we are crazy in a positive way. 

The second level of experience is the people in a bar who are having a drink, and our product is proposed to them, or they decide to try it. And I'm pretty sure a few are surprised because it's a new provenance for Sicily.

 

Then, we provide a lot of information through our packaging and bottles, which plays a huge role in communicating what we do and want to express. In some way, I hope they get the feeling that we have just met.

 

Finally, the product: I think it's a very particular rum and not for everyone because it is white. It's not the classic Bacardi 40 degrees, 80 proof. Starting for the alcohol by volume, our rums are above 50 degrees, 100 proof, so they are much stronger in terms of profile.

 

I hope people can taste the salty olive and citrus notes—all these notes are very strong in our rums. I hope they can get a piece of Sicily with every sip.  

 

 

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It started with a meditation retreat. Traci Randolph and her husband, Jason, were looking for a meaningful way to spend their 25th wedding anniversary. They'd worked to fit it into their busy schedules and planned a weeklong stay in Cancun. A former salon owner turned Realtor, Traci had been someone who craved certainty, always needing to know what was coming next.

 

"I always had to have a plan for everything," Traci remembers. "I was uncomfortable in the unknown."

 

But while attending a meditation retreat with Dr. Joe Dispenza, something clicked, and she realized she needed to make a change and embrace the uncertainty of life.

 

She didn't know what she wanted, but, for the first time, she found comfort in that question mark. She pondered possibilities, and what resonated most with her was a strong desire to create something that would connect with people.

 

"I love real estate, and I'll continue to do that, but having a connection with people is just different," says Traci. Exploring her new mindset, she returned to regular meditation, visualizing a future where she could bring people together through joy and food.

 

Traci found a fully restored coffee cart on its way from Italy. She purchased the vintage 1959 Lambretta and named her "Angela" after her grandmother, who inspired her to cook. She went on to name her business Fiore Della Vita, meaning Flower of Life. Her logo is a powerful symbol in mediation, symbolizing creation, just like the offerings she plans to share.

 

Serving the Greater Phoenix area since late 2024, the Italy-inspired food and beverage business is available for special events and weddings. This year promises even more opportunities. It's full speed ahead into uncharted territory for their little truck, and Traci is comfortable taking the ride.

 

We chatted about Traci's background and how it inspired her, the signs that directed her, the challenges she faced, the rewards she's reaped, and more.

 

 

 

Traci Randolph's grandmother, Angela, inspired her. 

 

Tell us about your grandmother and your connection to Sicily.

My maternal great-grandparents were from Ragusa. They came through Ellis Island, so my grandmother was raised in New York. My mom was born there, and so was I before we moved to Arizona.

When my grandparents divorced, my grandma came to live with us—it was just my mom and I because my parents had divorced—so I spent a lot of time with her. I even called her Mom probably more often than I called my own mother Mom.

 

She greatly influenced me, spent a lot of time with me, and even got to know my friends. My husband and I were dating then, so she was even a part of his life.

 

She passed away when my youngest was two, and I felt it when she was gone. I was grateful I had her when I did—the culture, food, and just having that safe space in the kitchen with her. My love language is absolutely food, and she's definitely a big part of that. 

 

After your retreat, what led to your business launch?

I went to a yoga class, and the owner of the yoga studio—knowing really nothing about me—said, "You need to open a coffee shop." I kind of chuckled and thought, How does she know?

 

I explored opening a space but realized that it would be a hundred hours a week for six months. And I thought, Maybe that's not what it looks like right now. I felt like I needed to speak to my heart and my inspiration.

 

Somebody introduced me to the idea of doing a coffee cart for events. I wanted it to be very cohesive with Italian tradition.

 

I went to a happy hour with a few friends. One is an event planner. We got to talking, and I said, "This is what I'm exploring. Would you have clients that would be interested in something like this?" And she said, "You have to do this."

 

I went home and told my husband. Then, I Googled "Italian coffee cart." Up comes this image of a Lambretta, and on the windshield, it says, "Congrats, Traci!" And it's spelled with an "i," like my name's spelling, which is extremely rare.

 

I was just getting sign after sign after sign.

 

I went to my husband's office, and my daughter pointed to the car in front of us. On the license plate, it said, "Coffee." And I said, "I need to find a truck."

 

I had looked at different trucks from Italy. There's one called an Ape from the Vespa brand, and they're really cute, but I'm seeing them recreated a lot—even China is recreating them.

I wanted something more authentic, more chic. My dad was a car salesman for 40 years, so I have a Cadillac. I wanted something a little bit higher-end and rare. And then I found the Lambretta.

A dealership out of San Francisco was advertising it on Facebook. I contacted them. They called me a few days later and said, "It's available and on its way from Italy. We can transport it to you if you want it."

 

So, all the numbers lined up the way I wanted them to. 

   

A young Traci poses with her grandmother.

How does the truck reflect your Sicilian heritage and grandmother's legacy?

One thing that was important was that because she was so petite, we wanted to have something really small and compact. I could have gone with a horse trailer. A lot of people are buying horse trailers. They're easy to find and inexpensive to modify.

 

But as I said, I wanted it to be more cohesive and feel Italian.

 

My grandmother would've really loved the cute little compact car and riding around in it. It definitely speaks to who she was. There's the sleekness. And she was just funny, too. The truck is comedic in how small it is and how it runs around. It's cute.

 

It's a lot more work than doing the horse trailer. But I wanted it to be more elegant—something people would want to have in front of their homes.

 

"Angela" parked and ready for business

You plan to start serving food. Tell us about that.

I'm getting licensed to do the catering. I want to do more appetizers. I'm not looking to really do full-catered dinners. I have other resources: people who will do the full dinner part of it, and my daughter will be doing charcuterie and grazing boards. She's absolutely amazing in that. But we'll do arancini, pizzelle, and biscotti.

 

The one thing that my grandma made before she passed away was stuffed squid. That was a big thing for us because it's labor-intensive. 

 

When I have made that, people go crazy. I had New Year's Eve here, and I made it. So we could probably do that in smaller bites. 

 

Traci sets "Angela" up for a bridal expo appearance.

How do you tailor your offerings to fit different themes?

We are having one party for a Persian couple, who want beverage taps. And so we're going to do cold brew on one tap and espresso on another tap, and then for the other one, we'll probably do a Pellegrino base. There are different Persian drinks that we will create with that.

 

These are going to be non-alcoholic just because of the location of the truck for the venue, but we can also do espresso martinis and cater those to different flairs.

 

I am excited because my creative abilities will be able to come out. We're even scheduling a tasting where we will come up with some ideas and have them pick one or two.

 

I did have somebody ask, "What if I wanted four taps?" I asked, "When's your wedding?" They said it was in 2026, and I said, "I think we might be able to get that done."
 

What challenges have you faced?

The biggest thing is the permitting. Just getting everything dusted. I've had contractors help me, but one of the things that I take pride in is that I've been doing a lot of the build-out myself. So, taking the time to do it myself has been a learning curve because I've never done anything like that before.

 

There's an amazing Facebook group of coffee entrepreneurs, and it's a great resource. I've learned a lot from that.
 

"Angela" prepared for a magical night

What experience do you hope to share?

It's really about bringing people together and having it be fun. Even at the expos, seeing people smile and come up and say, "Oh my gosh, it's so cute!" Even just the conversation piece was really what I wanted, something that people would want in the background, along with the food and all that is also just extra.

 

It's really nice when you can bring joy like that to people. That was the biggest thing I really meditated on: being in that environment where people are happy and celebrating something, and you're just being able to be part of that. 

 

 

 

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