There are Made in Italy companies to which good fortune has been grateful since the beginning. They were born in depressed areas, neglected by bankers and investors, but which due to the intricate paths of history then became product excellence and environmental quality. More or less this journey came to mind when the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy celebrated the company's 130th anniversary De Cecco in the American market. The event was celebrated with a stamp issued by the same Ministry of Enterprises. In reality it is the second philatelic award to the historic Fara San Martino pasta factory in Abruzzo. The first is from 2016 for the 130th anniversary of its foundation, which originated from an old stone mill. The modern pasta factory is located in the Majella Park, once a land of transhumance, hermits and earthquakes. The site has long been a Geo Park Unesco Heritage, for its historical and geomorphological characteristics. The De Cecco company is also an excellence in sustainability. Long before the recognition of the Ministry did investments and developed cutting-edge processing methods in a harmonious and orderly environment.
From Abruzzo to the Universal Exhibition of 1831.
It all begins with the milling of Nicholas Antonio DeCecco in 1831. A few years later, his son Filippo Giovanni decided to produce pasta "with the perfect ingredients he had at hand: the high quality semolina that his father produced and the pure water from the Majella spring". Father and son choose the best grains of the area to make known abroad what is produced in the heart of the central Apennines. In 1893 at theChicago World's Fair pasta from distant Italy – macaroni and vermicelli – is awarded the gold medal “for superior texture, color and toughness after cooking”. The minister Adolfo Urso he recalled this, presenting the commemorative stamp of this centenary bond with America. Oh yes, America! The dream of millions of Italians, recognized international prestige to a small mountain laboratory two centuries ago. But in 1888 Filippo had the idea that he had changed the way pasta was made. He had devised and put the system into operation hot air drying. The first ever. A technological revolution that accelerated production, without affecting quality. Basically one green production of two centuries ago, imagined to "globalise" macaroni. With that method the pasta was preserved and maintained all the organoleptic characteristics. It was Columbus' egg! The natural, practical way to be able to ship it all over the world. And America was there waiting. The States full of Italians in search of fortune, travelers on the same steamers that carried the pasta from Fara San Martino.
Production and sustainability according to the Global Compact
De Cecco remains one Italian brand, appreciated by virtue of that good fortune we mentioned at the beginning. For years the pasta factory has been working respecting its own environmental sustainability document and work inspired by the United Nations Global Compact. The pasta comes from production lines powered by 50% electricity from renewable sources. 14% is hydroelectric energy, self-produced by owned plants. Devices that date back to the early 900s, which have been gradually modernized, almost as if waiting for Italian industry to realize (many decades later) that it has to produce without pollutingAnd. Abruzzo is one of the regions least compromised from an environmental point of view, however waste is not tolerated here. In 2021, the pasta factory reduced CO emissions by more than 10%.2 into the atmosphere and planted over 3 olive trees to further reduce carbon dioxide. The processing of the dough involves 2 thousand farms of the territory, also effectively entering the chain of food solidarity through collaborations such as the one with the Banco Alimentare. “Even when technological progress has provided us with faster and more economical solutions, we have continued to use rough dies and to defend our processing method” they say in the company. After all, today's Made in Italy brand celebrated with the stamp of the State Mint is equivalent to the "Manufacturer of pasta" coined by the heirs of Nicola Antonio in 1900.
