Our Story

Hesper started as a reinvention of limoncello with daring flavors and an organic holistic focus. Our founder, Dianna Cavagnaro, whose career spans non-profit events and fundraising, saw an opportunity to disrupt the beverage industry and by becoming an entrepreneur, bet on herself, her dreams and her passions.

FEMALE + MINORITY FOUNDER

During the pandemic in 2021, furloughed as an events executive and home caring for her daughter, Dianna found she had quite a bit of never-before-had surplus time and energy on her hands - so she began making Limoncello at home for friends and family because who doesn’t enjoy a little bit of citrus sunshine in a cup? And also decided to make lemon curd and juices and scrubs with the other parts of the lemon fruit because, why not – she had the time and didn’t want to just throw away so much of the fruit since Limoncello only requires the peel aka zest.

After rave reviews, she thought it would be an exciting endeavor to make into a business. Little did she know the beverage and alcohol industry was not only so complicated, but also highly wasteful. After lots of trial and error and horror (oh the stories of waste and expense), Hesper was born. A play on words, as the goal with our family brand of products and sustainable partnerships is to use the whole fruit from peel to pith, zest to juice and every piece of pulp in between. We source whole, organic, unprocessed, natural, compostable and recycled products and goods as are available – and strive to be a change maker in the industry. Plus, with Dianna’s career focused on with an added mission to support aligned non-profit partners.

Born in the Philippines, with a blend of Italian and French heritage, Dianna also realized this was an opportunity to meld her backgrounds and healthy living goals. Through our delicious citrus infused spirits, Hesper puts a spin on expectations with non-traditional flavors and low-carb, keto-friendly lifestyle alternatives. Our flavors include traditional Lemon aka Limone and Grapefruit aka Pompelmo – with the aim to bring exotic flavors to the forefront as our product line expands – think Yuzu, Calamansi, and more. Low-carb living was a huge part of Dianna’s pandemic days too - as she lost over 70 lbs in 2020. She realized that cultivating low-carb options was important to continuing this lifestyle and hence, our low-carb, sugar-free options are currently available in both flavors.

Our spa products reuse the peels aka zest from the spirit making process and are the first step into our focus on changing and evolving the beverage industry to be more sustainable. As you glance through the products page, you will see that our line expands to include a true focus on sustainability as much as possible – and reframing what it means to be a business today and our role and commitment to caring not only for the people on our planet, but the planet itself. If you are interested in partnering on products, request a donation, would like to invest or want more information, reach out here.