175 Years of Tradition and Excellence Count Niccolò Branca, (left), and Edoardo (right) Edoardo Branca is a sixth-generation family member and is the Managing Director of Branca USA. Prior to taking on this role, Edoardo managed the exports of Fratelli Branca portfolio to many other countries including Japan, Australia, China, Albania, Africa and England. Fratelli Branca and its Milan-based distillery were founded in 1845 by Edoardo’s ancestor, Bernardino Branca, who produced a bitter herbal liqueur using a secret formula that has remained such to this day. As the Managing Director of the company, Edoardo reports to his father, Count Niccolò Branca, who is the main shareholder and Chairman of the Board, and more importantly, the sole keeper of the secret recipe for Fernet-Branca, which is passed down from father to son in the family.
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in the Mix Magazine
1. Tell us some interesting facts about the 175year history of Fernet-Branca and Antica Formula. Edoardo Branca: Fernet-Branca was created in 1845 as a medicine during an epidemic of cholera. There is a debate on the origin of the name “Fernet.” It actually depends on who you speak with in the company. The marketing team will tell you that it was a combination of Bernardino Branca, the herbalist, and Mr. Fernet, a Swedish chemist, and together they invented the formula. If you speak with the workers that make the Fernet instead, they will tell you that they invented it, because when you mix the aloe ferox in a big pan, you stir it with a big iron shovel. To see when the aloe ferox was ready, the iron shovel had to be very shiny and clean, and “fer net” in the Milanese dialect is “clean iron.” As it is for today, we do not have yet an answer on which is the true story behind the name.
