A history without borders that shows what we are made of.

From the Parma Food Valley to the world: this is how the pasta supply chain was born

Parma, 1933. Mario and Giuseppe Braibanti are two young brothers, both veterans of the Great War, who have chosen to follow in their father Ennio's footsteps in the field of industrial engineering. In particular, their goal is to design new machinery for the family’s pasta factory.

After 5 years of research and experimentation, the little marvel is finally ready: Mario and Giuseppe have succeeded in creating a machine the like of which has never been seen before, capable of combining a mixer, kneader and press in a single line, allowing continuous pasta production. This is a revolutionary innovation: in the 1930s, the Braibanti brothers produce and sell hundreds of the machines, which they gradually enlarge and improve.

Their extraordinary creation catches the attention of the owner of a pasta factory, located at Barriera Vittorio Emanuele, whose bakery and pasta shop has been supplying the inhabitants of Parma for years.

His name is Riccardo Barilla. Between 1936 and 1938, he purchases 12 machines from the Braibanti brothers, thus equipping his production plant with cutting-edge machinery on the eve of the outbreak of the Second World War.

This is a strategically important step that will allow the company to write the history of the Made in Italy sector worldwide, by becoming the leading dry pasta company in the global market and creating a supply chain that has accompanied Italy’s major social and economic changes.

Although it is now a global brand, Barilla has never broken its connection with its land of origin: 100% of Barilla's high-quality durum wheat comes from Emilia-Romagna, and it is also thanks to the production of the Food Valley that the company is able to offer in Italy pasta that is made with 100% Italian wheat.