Check Out Stacie Moss’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacie Moss.

Hi Stacie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
La Bella Toscanina really started through my husband, Gabriele, who was born and raised in Florence, Italy. Through him and his family, I fell in love with the way food is experienced in Tuscany. Everything felt more connected to family, tradition, and to the land.

Gabriele’s parents would regularly ship us olive oil from Tuscany, and I remember being completely blown away by it. It was rich, vibrant, peppery, and alive with flavor, nothing like what I was finding on grocery store shelves here in the U.S. The more we learned, the more we realized how much olive oil here is overly processed, mass produced, and blended from many different harvests.

Through longtime family friends outside Florence, we partnered with a small multi generational farm run by two sisters in what is still a heavily male dominated industry. Their olive trees are over 500 years old, planted during the mid Renaissance period, and the age of the trees creates an incredible depth and richness in the oil. Every bottle reflects the land, the season, and the harvest itself. No diluting, no mixed harvests, just single estate, single harvest olive oil cold pressed within hours of picking.

As a woman building this brand, that partnership became incredibly meaningful to me. While La Bella Toscanina is a family business, it’s truly powered by women on both sides, from the women producing the oil in Tuscany to me designing the packaging, creatively directing the brand, and still hand pouring and packing every bottle myself today. There’s something really special about women supporting women across generations and across countries to build something so deeply rooted in tradition and craftsmanship.

What started as a passion project became our way of bringing a little piece of my husband’s home in Tuscany to American shelves, along with the slower and more intentional way of life that comes with it.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, definitely not a smooth road, but honestly I think that’s part of building something meaningful and building it the right way.

One of the biggest challenges has been introducing customers to a completely different approach to olive oil. In the U.S., most olive oil is produced on a much larger scale and at cheaper prices, so sharing the story behind small batch, single estate, single harvest olive oil has taken time, especially because it’s such a different experience once you taste it fresh and properly made.

Another challenge has been how hands on we still are with every part of the business. I still design the packaging, creatively direct the brand, hand pour the inventory, pack every order, and manage much of the day to day while also being a mom. A lot of it has been learning how to wear so many different hats at once while continuing to grow the brand in a thoughtful way. Our hope is that as we continue growing, we’ll eventually be able to build a small team around it.

There’s also the reality that small batch production is harder and more expensive. We’re not mass producing anything, and we never want to compromise quality just to scale faster. Staying committed to single estate oil, traditional harvesting, and working closely with a small farm in Tuscany means there are naturally more limitations, but that’s also what makes the brand special.

At the end of the day, every challenge has made us more connected to why we started this in the first place. We never wanted to build something fast or generic. We wanted to build something beautiful, intentional, and deeply rooted in authenticity.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My background is in fashion design. Before pivoting into the olive oil industry, I worked as a Senior Designer in fashion with a focus on product development and fit. I specialized in technical design and pattern making, which really shaped the way I approach La Bella Toscanina today. I’ve always had a strong eye for detail, craftsmanship, and creating products that feel both beautiful and intentional.

The saying “you eat with your eyes first” has always felt very true to me, and I really took that to heart when designing the packaging for our Tin Collection. I wanted it to feel nostalgic and inherently Italian. The designs were inspired by long, slow summer days by the seaside, capturing the essence of the striped cabanas and beach umbrellas you see along the Italian coast, but done through a more elevated interior design palette so the tins feel beautiful sitting out in your kitchen. I wanted them to feel transportive, like a small piece of an Italian summer brought into your home.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is the importance of staying true to yourself and your brand identity. It’s so easy, especially with social media and trends, to get caught up in what everyone else in the market is doing. But I’ve learned that the strongest brands are the ones that feel authentic and have a clear point of view.

From the beginning, we’ve really tried to carve our own path and build something that genuinely reflects who we are and what we love, even if it’s not always the fastest or easiest route. I think there’s something really powerful about beating to your own drum and trusting your instincts creatively instead of constantly chasing what’s trending.

I think a huge part of it is finding the balance between creating something timeless and classic while still having one foot firmly planted in the present. I think people can feel when something is genuine, and that authenticity is what they ultimately connect with most.

Pricing:

• 150ml Tin-$16
• Tin Trio Set- $48
• Taste of Tuscany (set of 6)-$102
• 1L Tin- $106
• Refill 1L Tin Set- $112

Contact Info:

• Website: https://labellatoscanina.com/collections/the-tin-collection
• Instagram: @labellatoscanina
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576729304848

Image Credits
Lauren Hayes