The walls around the Tuscan City of Prato are not actually ancient.
They were completed in 1600.
Today they enclose the old city with its narrow streets and bustling lifestyle. The walls also enclose the Monash Prato Centre and, from now until September, the Action Words office and my home.
As everyone who has travelled to Europe would know, the centre of the city is the main Piazza. That’s where people meet every day. Where every day the locals communicate in the most low tech of ways. By standing and talking or by walking together.
Last Sunday morning we arrived at the Piazza around 11am. A large crowd had gathered. We wondered what was on. There did not seem to be anything special.
Then we noticed it was nearly all men. Nearly all over 50.
And then the penny dropped.
The duomo (major church) in Prato is adjacent to the Piazza. The men were waiting outside while their wives were in church for Sunday Mass. It was a very social time for the men. Comparing notes. Exchanging stories. Arguing over the Italian football team (which is in a transition phase leading up to the 2010 World Cup).
Soon afterwards we came across a lone trestle table set up in the middle of the Piazza. An aroma of coffee attracted us to it. “Everything is free, come and try,” a young woman called to us. We were even more attracted.
The cakes and delicacies were beautifully presented. “Please try,” she said, and we needed no further coaxing.
“So what are you on about?” we asked, and we soon discovered that the trestle table was part of a promotion by the Tatawelo Group.
Tatawelo, in operation since 2003, supports impoverished people in the Chiapas region of Mexico. The Chiapas people grow the coffee and the Tatawelo Group trades with them to give them a livelihood. It works. And now the Tatawelo Group can point to a whole range of community improvements that have been achieved over the last five years.
Well, call us suckers if you want, but we tried the superb coffee, we tried the cheese and we tried the pastries. And then we started to spend. And the pack horse, yours truly, was well and truly weighed down when we walked away.
And since then we have told quite a few friends about Tatawello coffee.
Sampling not only produced sales but two new advocates as well.
How good is that?
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1 comment:
Hi Frank, 'Schöne Grüße' from Berlin to Tuscany......
'Enjoyed your anecdote, it reminded me that word of mouth is still one of the most powerful tools, but you have to do something truly worth talking about to get it to work for you.
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