report in Parma, at the heart of pesto making


The Rubbiano factory in figures


  • Date of construction: 2012

  • 84,000 tonnes of sauces produced in 2023, dont 15 000 t of Genoese pesto

  • 290 million pots produced per year

  • 5 production lines for 42 recipes and 109 references with 131 ingredients. In 2017, a second pesto line was added, and a third last year

  • 400 employees

  • You invest 150 M € over the last ten years

  • €1.5 million to equip 10,000 m² of roofs with photovoltaic panels in 2024


Source : Barilla

At the headquarters of the Barilla group, in Pedrignano, near Parma (Emilia-Romagna), the subject is sensitive. When we ask Matteo Gori, vice-president in charge of the sauces and condiments branch, what is the weight of pesto in the sales of the Italian champion of dried pasta, he looks at his communications director.

No precise figure in this area. We will be satisfied with a vague 10% of the group’s turnover (4.7 billion euros in 2023, including 670 million in ) achieved by the branch, with growth of 25% for pesto compared to 10%. for the rest of the red sauces. And the admission, all the same, that it is about “the group’s main growth market”. More than pasta which reaches a plateau or even red sauces whose level of penetration, which exceeds 60% in France and 75% in Italy, opens up fewer perspectives than the fabulous green sauce which would still only be ‘at its beginnings.


A very young market

Where the brand seeks to impose it, the recipe made from basil, olive oil, parmesan and cashew nuts actually displays a fairly low number of buyers: 35% in Germany (+ 2.5 pts in 2024), 32.8% in France (+ 3.7 pts) or 10% in the United States. Compare to almost 50% of customers (49.8%, +0.5 pt) in its domestic market, where pesto pasta is a national dish with as many recipes as there are Italians. Enough to fuel the sustained growth of pesto which, between 2009 and 2023, grew by 13.7% per year worldwide, according to NielsenIQ, with Barilla taking 39.5%, with increases last year of 31 % in Belgium, 25% in France, 21% in Greece, 18% in Italy…


“This market is very young with a limited number of buyers,” enthuses Matteo Gori. There therefore remains a lot of ground to conquer to reach the 50% penetration of the Italian market which seems to him to be a good objective. “The whole challenge is to make it known. The main obstacle for non-buyers is to say to themselves: “I don’t know what it is and if I’ll like it…”

Confirmation in France, where Barilla accounts for half of pesto sales by value (60.7 million euros in CAM at the end of September 2024, out of total sales of 121.3 million, according to NielsenIQ) and 45.6% of volumes (4,791 t out of 10,509) with respective gains of 25.9% and 31%. “I don’t know many markets that are x4 in volume in ten years and experiencing double-digit growth every year, and yet we are only at 30% penetration, note Miloud Benaouda, President Western Europe of Barilla. It’s up to us to popularize the product and make other uses of it known, in sandwiches, as an aperitif or as an ingredient…”

Aware of the potential, the manufacturer has worked hard, like its factory in Rubbiano, not far from Parma, where it inaugurated last year a third production line dedicated to pesto. “ The first was saturated in 2017, it was necessary to double it and create a third in 2023 », explains Alessandro De Poli, site director. A bill of 28 million euros for a 138 m long line… Enough to produce a little more than 15,000 tonnes of pesto alla genovese, its star product, based on fresh basil, or a third of its pesto volumes .


The fresco

It’s hard to miss the Rubbiano factory (Lombardy), with its facade decorated with a 10m high and 800 m² basil fresco, created by Marianna Tomaselli. A gesture in the tradition of the Barilla family, which has furnished the headquarters of its company, adjacent to its factory in Parma, with an incredible collection of modern art.


Basil

At the heart of pesto alla genovese, basil (30% of the ingredients), a difficult-to-produce plant that the Barilla teams have carefully selected. Around twenty varieties are used, but two are preferred, Eleonora and Prospera.



The fields

The basil is harvested over four to five passes between May and September. Barely cut, it is transported to the factory. Production is ensured by around twenty farmers under contracts who promote biodiversity.


IMG_LSA5049891_03


The factory

Once washed, the basil is cut and mixed with oil and salt. Add the locally grated Parmigiano Reggiano PDO and the cashew nuts. Each container contains 1 t of ingredients for a slow emulsion.


pesto


The chain

Each glass jar is inverted then filled and closed automatically before a slow cooking heat treatment, specific to Barilla. Once the product is in the pot, cooling is gradual.


IMG_LSA5049891_04


In search of the ideal

A recipe whose process Barilla has refined. “Every three years, we try to bring new things,” supports Matteo Gori. Use of whole wheels of Parmesan Reggiano PDO (26 kg), establishment of a charter and a so-called “delicate” method to preserve the qualities of the ingredients, in particular fresh basil: the group’s green nugget is the subject of all the attention. At the R&D center, we test the most suitable varieties for the best pesto. “Eleonora and Prospera stand out from the crowd, assure Alessandro D’Alessandro, owner of R & D. If we found a basil with a lemon flavor, that would be ideal. »

Same attention in the fields where Barilla supports around twenty producers in the management of this delicate crop on nearly 200 hectares under contract. Morning harvests; transfers and transports in refrigerated vehicles and in bins weighing less than 70 kg so as not to crush the leaves; very short time between harvest and processing in the factory: basil is pampered, biodiversity and reasoned practices encouraged.

The “delicate method” continues in the Rubbiano factory where the transformation of the product takes less than two hours between washing the basil and packaging the pots, all after two slow cooking phases to, again, preserve quality ingredients, assure the leaders. They are confident. In the factory, flanked by its gigantic fresco to the glory of its star plant, we are assured of having enough to double the production of pesto alla genovese in the years to come. The green gold has not finished flowing.


The article is from the December 5, 2024 edition


LSA

Click here to access the digital version of the magazine

-

-

PREV “It’s a crucial match” said the Saint-Pavin coach before Vertou
NEXT what impact on wildlife?