With the festive season now well underway, the island’s leading confectionaries and bakeries have ramped up their operations ready to quench customers’ Christmas fever.

One such purveyor of sweet treats, the adored and long-standing Busy Bee is leading the charge to satiate the festive masses, having introduced a number of new dedicated seasonal products, while continuing to have perfected its traditional Panettone and Pandoro.

Giuseppe Pisanelli/ LinkedIn

The company’s Operation’s Manager, Giuseppe Pisanelli sits down with WhosWho.mt to discuss the work that went in to preparing for the season and explain just what Christmas looks like to Busy Bee and its team.

He’s a fan of the period, describing it as “probably the most exciting (and busiest) time of the year.”

To be ready in time for its Christmas rush the company began its preparations at the end of summer, designing its popular hampers, and ordering the required packaging and decorations.

Additionally, Busy Bee’s staff work hard experimenting with new products, with those that meet the high standards being chosen to join the Christmas offering.

“A lot of emphasis is made to create the perfect product every year, this is something that we are very proud about mainly because we know our customers would want the best from us,” exclaims Mr Pisanelli.

Demand for Busy Bee’s products increases across the board, though a particular focus is placed on the Christmas range, including hampers, gifts, and party items.

Additionally, the company has introduced a festive menu, where the company’s specialist chefs prepare meals for its customers to pick up and cook “in the comfort of their home.”

This was introduced last year while the pandemic was raging, and left customers with the enjoyment of easily cooking their favourite food between Christmas and New Year.

“The feedback was great, and we were encouraged to introduce it again this year,” celebrates Mr Pisanelli, pointing out that the products are already available to pre-order online.

While exciting, the Christmas period also presents certain challenges to the company’s operations, including those relating to maintaining operations at Busy Bee’s coffee shops, and making sure outside catering runs smoothly.

To face these challenges, Mr Pisanelli explains that his team has spent a lot of time preparing, planning and organising the operation’s details.

Demand is expected to peak during the second and third week of December, but he is confident the company can cope.

“We have a great team and also great facilities that allows us to operate in harmony across each department. At times it feels a bit like Santa’s workshop with copious amount of sweets and cakes being produced, staff assembling never ending boxes of hampers, there is a lot of hard work involved and it is also a great fun,” he explains.

This year, the company also has a new Sliema coffee shop, where doors are expected to open imminently.

For the moment though, Mr Pisanelli and the entire Busy Bee team are excited to welcoming existing and new clients to its shops, and to contributing to making this festive season a little more special with its products and services.