Thank you all for your powerful and heartfelt notes and letters these past few days, and for the tremendous number of visitors to our Tasting Room and online stores this week. We are moved by your words and amazed by your action. All of us at Lucero Olive Oil are humbled to receive your many endorsements and support. Many of you asked for more information about the April 2 announcement that Crane Mills will be divesting its olive oil related agricultural, processing, and distribution operations. This letter endeavors to answer your questions about why this is happening and what comes next for the Lucero Olive Oil brand, the business, and our employees. We also want to give you an update about the status of product and future availability. First, let us say that we thank you for your patronage, support, encouragement, and concern. We are sharing the notes you have sent to us with our employees and with the Crane Family, too. It means a lot that so many of you have taken the time to write.The reason for the decision is based on the timing of a trio of events last year which were beyond anyone's control. In 2018 the Carr, Hirz and Delta fires had a significant impact on Crane Mills timber. The company also experienced an extremely poor almond crop due to frost damage and the olive crop was a near total loss, again due to weather. Thus, Crane Mills made the difficult decision to divest from olive and olive oil production to focus more resources on its core operations. As we wind down operations, Crane Mills and Lucero Olive Oil will continue working to find a buyer for the land and brand.Our employees have been terrific. All are willingly and professionally executing their duties. We had the Job Training Center on site today for a presentation and some one-on-one meetings with representatives as part of their Rapid Response system for any employees who want to take advantage. Our store will continue to be open for business through the end of April, however, we will be closed for re-stocking Saturday 4/06 through Tuesday 4/09, re-opening Wednesday 4/10. You can continue to order on-line - please allow two to three weeks for delivery due to the large volume of orders we are now processing. As stated in our earlier update, remaining inventories are being offered at a 50 percent discount. Store hours are 9 to 5 Monday through Saturday. Sundays will be closed. We hope you will stop by to see us. Information on Existing OrdersWe are prioritizing the fulfillment of all orders. Unfortunately, it has become apparent we have a significant number of orders that will not be able to be fulfilled completely so we are working now to determine supplies on an item by item basis (glass, labels, etc.) in order to conduct additional bottling runs for some of these orders. We will contact you to advise of any delays or if we will need to issue a refund. In all matters, we ask for your patience. Where we can ship immediately, we will do so, however, as a rule expect two to three weeks due to production timing. Inventory StatusWith respect to on-line orders, we have marked some items as out of stock. If we determine that more can bottled, these items will be added back to our available inventory. For instance, our Fig Vinegar and Ascolano may be back with some adjustments in package or labeling. Some items are permanently sold out on-line including all olive wood, books and our gift sets. Some of these items are still for sale in the shop. As some of you have experienced shopping in the store this week, some shelves were empty. This doesn't necessarily mean the item is out of stock - it may mean that the demand has been high and we need to bottle more next week. In addition to replenishing basic items, we have identified some other clearance opportunities which will be offered in store. The point is you may want to check back from time to time. Thank you once again for your encouragement and support, and a special thank you to all Lucero employees for your dedication and hard work. Sincerely,Liz TagamiGeneral ManagerThe post Update from Corning appeared first on Recipes and Blog | Lucero Olive Oil.
