A North Tyneside tour caterer to some of the biggest bands in the world has told how she has been forced to pivot her talents, after being grounded for a year by the pandemic.
For 18 years, Marisa Zoccolan has spent half of each year on tour with global superstars including U2, Cher, Justin Timberlake, Michael Buble and Paul McCartney, travelling the globe as part of each group or artist’s tour crew.
Last March, however, her work came to an abrupt halt while with the catering crew for Billie Eilish’s tour in the US as the coronavirus crisis struck, forcing her to fly home and plot a new way to make a living while live events have been wiped out.
As a self-employed chef, specialising in restaurant-standard desserts, Marisa can’t tap into funding, so has instead put her efforts into promoting her own talents through the Zoccolans Baked Goods brand, making all manner of celebration cakes and pastries.
Despite being within a crowded marketplace, with lots of people launching baking businesses during lockdown, Marisa can set herself apart from the competition with vegan and gluten pastries and brownies that have wowed the taste buds of scores of chart topping acts - and she’s now giving North East customers a chance to taste her talents.
As a purely home-based enterprise, the number of orders she can take is limited, so customers at the moment are just coming through word-of-mouth and her social media posts, including Zoccolansbakes on Instagram and her Zoccolans Bakes page on Facebook.
Regular orders are also made for schools and the Ouseburn Cycle Hub, and she is now exploring options to supply cafes and restaurants with baked goods and desserts.
She said: “Live events didn’t look like they were going to come back for some time, and I had to make a living, so I just started selling cakes. On tour I usually make desserts, cheesecakes, pastries and cakes in little portions, more in a restaurant style.
Most Read
“This is quite different for me. On tour I design my my own menus but have to follow any dietary requirements and the menu changes daily. It’s a different customer base now and people approach me with requests.
“People do need cheering up at the moment with treats like cakes and brownies. So I’m making a lot of brownie boxes, birthday cakes, sausage rolls and vegan sausage rolls and my order with the Ouseburn Cycle Hub keeps me busy, but I’m also looking to link-up with cafes and restaurants who might want me to supply them with desserts and cakes.”
Working for herself at home has seen Marisa adjust to much more enjoyable hours, her usual shifts requiring a 6am start in the kitchens working through until midnight or later.
Marisa, who is originally from Leeds but now living in Wallsend, said: “It’s not how people imagine - you’re not bessie mates with the band. It’s like working anywhere else, where you enjoy it because of the people you work with making up the rest of the tour crew. The only difference is the music playing in the background in the kitchen is live and not from a radio.
“You do get days off to explore the cities you visit though.”
As for the future – and the potential to make Zoccolans Baked Goods a permanent fixture over touring – she is staying philosophical.
She said: “I’m definitely keeping this going for the time being. They’re selling tickets for festivals for later this year but I think that’s a bit too hopeful and can’t see any tours starting again this year. And I’m really enjoying this kind of baking. I’m learning all the time, and also having to learn about self-promotion and marketing, which my partner has been looking after because she’s really good at it.
Don’t miss
“If I grow the business more that takes into a whole new ball game, of maybe taking on more people and looking for premises, and I’m not sure about that at the moment.
“I miss my job and really want to get back to it. . .but I’m enjoying being at home so you never know what will happen. It’s something to think about.”