Real Italian ice-cream Sammontana

REAL ITALIAN ICE-CREAM

In the early 1940s, Romeo Bagnoli earned himself a reputation as a maker of fine ice-creams in his dairy and ice-cream parlour in Empoli, Tuscany. He used the very best milk from a nearby farm called Sammontana and, in the end, the farm gave its name to the ice-cream parlour and the company that grew out of it. In the spring of 1948, his eldest son, Renzo, transformed the small parlour into a veritable ice-cream workshop. The story of a company that is now one of the most important in the Italian ice-cream market began. Laura Travierso reports.

Today Mr Leonardo Bagnoli, grandson of Romeo and CEO of the company, shares with us his forecast for the future of the family firm. “Sammontana is a company with an annual turnover of over €330 million. We rank number two in the Italian ice-cream market, and we are the leader in the Italian pastry market thanks to our property brands Tre Marie and Il Pasticciere.”

The reasons for the company’s success are simple: high-tech equipment, total quality assurance at every stage of the production process (including the selection of ingredients), and continuous innovation in order to anticipate and satisfy the needs of consumers, who remain the top priority. By adopting these business ethics, Sammontana has become the second largest ice-cream manufacturer in Italy and the largest fully Italian-owned company, behind the multinational Algida-Unilever. The Tuscan company was also the first ice-cream manufacturer to achieve ISO 9001 certification and since 1997 has complied with this most advanced and rigorous quality standard. The international overview

Currently, international markets account for 3 per cent of the company’s turnover, but this share is expected to increase quickly and soon. In the UK and Germany, Sammontana operates as a private label, producing for well-known companies like Iceland, Edeka, Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord with brands as Mucci and Gelateria Ducali. “It is difficult to affirm our own Sammontana brand in foreign countries,” says Mr Bagnoli. “Indeed, in this industry the lion’s

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share is made by multinational players like Unilever or Nestlé.

“In some cases, therefore, we have chosen to enter new markets through the private label approach. We are certainly able to grant a high standard of quality in the production process, as we can offer a wide range of different product solutions, from the original or tailor made recipes to the celiac ones.”

Innovative production lines

Sammontana has two ice-cream production facilities, in Empoli and Verona, and two supplementary plants dedicated to croissants – one in Vinci, near Empoli and the other in Rome. In this year alone, the company has already invested about €4 million into a new machinery line at the Empoli factory. This new production line enables the highest quality cone production standards: thanks to this, the wafer cone is worked out in a plumb-line that allows for the more even spraying of chocolate in the wafer.

Barattolino Sammontana

In 1970, Sammontana launched is first Barattolino. This was a revolution in the Italian ice-cream market: for the first time, economysized tubs of soft and creamy ‘mantecato’ ice-cream entered Italian homes. “Now, it’s

time to launch our Barattolino all over the world,” reveals Mr Bagnoli. “Barattolino will seduce all of you. Our goal is to present the real Italian ice-cream taste in two different sizes (1000ml and 500ml) in a limited edition. The ice-cream will come in five appealing flavours: Cioccolato, the award winning toscano black 66 per cent chocolate by Amedei in a smooth and bold gelato; Affogato al caffè, a creamy coffee gelato folded with smooth coffee ripple and enriched by caramelised hazelnut pieces; Limoncello, creamy gelato with a sweet and lemony ripple of Limoncello Liqueur from the Amalfi coast enriched by white chocolate drops; Cantuccini e Vin Santo, the almond taste of cantuccini biscuits and the sweet notes of Vin Santo-a classic Tuscan pairing of flavours; and Mascarpone, rich mascarpone cheese gelato with a smooth soft fruit ripple and crunchy biscuits.

“The new flavours,” continues Mr Bagnoli, “are exclusively made for the foreign market. Our goal for the next few years is to spread the Italian ice-cream taste all over the world. For this reason we decided to start from Barattolino, our iconic brand on the domestic market.” n