Pat O’Brien, Director of Marketing for Fiore Artisan Olive Oils and Vinegars visited Skidompha’s Chats with Champions on September 4, 2018. Presenting “Fiore, Not Just a Business but an Adventure,” O’Brien provided a lively discussion on the sourcing of extra virgin olive oils from harvest to harvest as olives ripen around the world and the production of balsamic vinegars of Modena, Italy.
He shared stories about the colorful individuals he has met who create these products and explain their inherent health benefits and culinary applications. This was an interactive presentation accompanied by an educational tasting. A variety of oils and balsamics were available for tasting during and after the program.
Fiore Artisan Olive Oils & Vinegars was founded by Nancy O’Brien in 2009. Pat joined the company soon after to manage key supplier relations as well as to direct the strategic marketing effort. Nancy and Pat relocated from Connecticut to Bass Harbor on Mount Desert Island in the spring of 2009 and opened Fiore in Bar Harbor that July. The Rockland tasting room and store opened a few months later, followed by locations in Lewiston, Freeport, Brunswick, and Brewer.
Fiore, whose name means “the blossoming flower” in Italian, has truly blossomed in Maine. It has won several prestigious awards including Rising Star Business of the Year in 2010 in Bar Harbor, Best-Around the World Tasting Room in New England in 2012 by Yankee Magazine, the Small Business Association’s Woman-Owned Small Business of the year for the State of Maine in 2013, and the Small Business of the Year by Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2016 among others.
Fiore Artisan Olive Oils & Vinegars on The Best of the Northeast