Meet Orange Clementine's, Diane and Clementina.
What do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own?
Orange Clementine has classic California style with a fresh zesty twist. We use the vintage crate label art and wooden crates as our signature packaging with beautiful art elements that creates a happy and fresh feeling. And that's just our packaging style. Our culinary style is old-school. We make everything ourselves, from scratch, with no preservatives and we use fresh California citrus to achieve amazing flavor.
We feel our products and packaging stand out because it's innovative yet classic at the same time. Our products capture the essence of California and evoke a sense of tasting and sending California sunshine. That's hard to achieve but we think we've done it.
What sort of things inspire you? Where do you look for inspiration?
Our source of inspiration is the California citrus history and the California lifestyle and culinary community.
Diane and Clementina have been around long enough (no specifics will be given here as to 'how long') to see remember orange groves in Orange County. We've also watched California cuisine and culinary arts evolve and to have achieved new heights. Examples range from the traditional pillars of good food such as California wines - of course - to the cheeses of Point Reyes Farmstead and Cypress Grove, our excellent farmer's markets, and the growing number of people creating new products as the market demands shift.
We currently host three young entrepreneurs at our kitchen - to give them a head start with their endeavors; it's fun and inspiring to see them grow their businesses. We all met at farmer's markets and we support and inspire each other.
When do you feel the most creative?
We feel most creative during low season (different for different vendors) when we look back and adjust our strategies according to customer needs and wants. We are in the process of creating a new cookie that uses our kitchen's California ingredients in a new way.
What is your creative process like?
Creativity is a luxury for a small business when you are trying to do all things at once. However, as noted above, we get our inspiration for others around us as we try to continue to be distinctive and produce high quality products with our citrus signature ingredients. So we start with the idea, then we test it over and over again in the kitchen until we feel it's right. That is the fun part.
What's the coolest artistic tip you've ever received?
Other vendors are always giving us tips and helping us out. So the best tips we get are from vendors directing us to events where our products will be appreciated and where we can continue to build a client base.
Where can we learn more about you?
Our website it the best source of information about us. We have a blog and we're very good about responding to any questions - we love connecting with our customers.
https://shop.orangeclementine.com/
Our love of California and capturing the essence, flavor, and history of our state drives our goal to become a household name for anyone who wants to give or enjoy high quality products made in California. Having raised our families but still having boundless energy, our excitement and determination as older women starting and growing a small business fuels us toward this goal.
