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YEAR V
APRIL 2005
bis
the harvesting specialist’s journal
2004: ANOTHER YEAR THAT CLOSED WITH A PROFIT
page 2
WITH THE MASTER, THE ARGO FLEET EVERYONE’S A LANDS IN “DOCTOR” IN FRANCE, AT SIMA LAVERDA
page 7
page 8
THE SERVICE STAFF, LAVERDA’S EVER-READY FIRST M60 GUARDIAN WAS CREATED ANGELS 50 YEARS AGO
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page 14
Gruppo Industriale ARGO
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The situation
by Aldo I. Dian
Another year with a profit Growth is the common target pursued by all: employees, customers, investors Laverda had no choice: it had to grow, and quickly. As in nature, where the conditions for growth are essential for survival, the growth factor is also of vital importance in the global market. The 2004 balance sheet, with the statements attesting to the fourth year from the time the historic Laverda brand was relaunched by Valerio Morra, chairman of the Argo Industrial Group, confirms and consolidates the exceptional growth result of our brand. The best when it comes to the economic result of Laverda’s history. First and foremost, the results that are now shown by the figures in the balance sheet are the fruits of the work of the Laverda men and women. A winning team which, with its wealth of experience, has been able to develop during these years by combining enthusiasm, willingness and dedication in a target made common which involves the interests of all: employees, customers and investors. And that’s the best guarantee for both the customers and company. Laverda’s plans in the industrial sphere are still very ambitious even though we can’t disguise how satisfied we are about the results obtained to date. Our acquisition of Fella, which took place in April 2004 as part of a development plan involving Argo’s harvesting machine division, and the success enjoyed right from the very first business year governed by Laverda, have contributed in a decisive manner towards the results of the year that has just drawn to a close, confirming the quality of the investment. The five-year Product development investment plan has achieved the
forecast results so far. The market has confirmed our ideas and proposals in a positive way, with no doubts about its appreciation for what we’ve done when it comes to the product and quality. The investment and industrial re-organization plan we’ve embarked upon with determination has also reaped results. Nowadays, the Breganze plant excels in its modern organization and systems. Efficient production, along with the increased volumes, will allow our products to become
Aldo I. Dian managing director
more competitive during the next few years, all to the benefit of those customers who choose us as their partner. Our attention towards customer satisfaction and, thus, to the entire service sphere, has proved to be a fundamental action owing to the contribution it has given towards defining our projects and actions. All this, I feel, sums up the work we have done and our future actions will be based on the same principles.
The harvesting specialist’s journal Year V, n. 1 bis, April 2005 Quarterly periodical Registered with the Court of Vicenza n. 1017 del 5 marzo 2002
publishing management Aldo I. Dian Angelo Benedetti editing office Simonetta Lambrocco technical consultant Pietro Dal Santo art-work Andrea Rosset Piergiorgio Laverda director in charge Claudio Strati the following persons collaborated:
LAVERDA volumes - Harvesting machines
Mio.
140
Rémy Hugueny Massimiliano Martinelli area manager
100
Anna Nesterova
80
East Europe sales dept.
71
40
Piergiorgio Laverda
66
curator of the “Pietro Laverda” Historical Archive
20 0
photographs Archivio Laverda spa
2002
2003
2004
LAVERDA trading result - Harvesting machines 14
Mio.
12
12
10 8
To all journal subscribers
3 2002
2003
LAVERDA employees - Harvesting machines
2004 N° Employees
700 600
645
500 400 300
400
430
200 100 0
Printed by Tipografia Campisi
Articles and pictures may only be duplicated if the source is cited.
6
2 0
© by Laverda spa 36042 Breganze (VI) Italy via F. Laverda, 15/17 tel. +39.0445.385311 fax +39.0445.873355 www.laverdaworld.com webmaster@laverdaworld.com
V.le dell’Industria 13 - 36057 Arcugnano (VI)
6 4
export area manager
Laverda France technical manager
136
120
60
Andrea Freddoni
2002
2003
2004
NOTIFICATION AS PER ART. 13 OF DECREE LAW D. LGS. 30.6.2003, N° 196 Your identification data have been acquired by Laverda S.p.A. from either you yourselves or from public lists and registers, thus from documents accessible to anyone, for our marketing activities in the future. Laverda S.p.A. will deal with these data on paper and/or by computerized or telematic media. The information will solely be used in our company for postal purposes, in relation to our need to acquire new customers by sending commercial proposals, also in the future. Laverda S.p.A. guarantees that the data will be treated in the most confidential way and that, upon your request, your data may be cancelled (or corrected) from our archives free of charge. You are therefore entitled to exercise all the rights established by art. 7 of Decree Law D.lgs.vo N° 196/2003 and in particular, to wholly or partly allow the data to be used.
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Italy by Simonetta Lambrocco
When you fall in love with the “reds” Harvesting specialists and Laverda: all about love at first sight As they travel around Italy, Laverda’s sales network managers and dealers continuously meet up with both customers and operators. And they inevitably gather up a patchwork of declarations about the “reds”. This is how some harvesting protagonists tell of how love was born, of their fatal meeting with Laverda. Lugino Gulinelli, from San Bartolomeo in Bosco, Ferrara, is a farm contractor. He has worked hard to develop his company, established in 1963. Chairman of Unima and vice-chairman of Associazione Trebbiatori e Motoaratori (the Association of Threshers and Ploughmen) of the Province of Ferrara, he runs his business along with his son-in-law Claudio Pampolini: working for himself and as a sub-contractor, his company employs 20/25 workers whose number rises to 50 during the harvesting campaign.
Right, Luigino Gulinelli; left, Claudio Pampolini
“I’ve lost count of the number I’ve had...” “I still remember how much I spent for my first combine-harvester. It cost 5 million two-hundred thousand lira way back in 1964: but during the very first year I used it, with over 3,000 quintals of wheat alone, I had already paid off more than one third of the machine. I also bought a John Deere and a few Arbos machines then, in 1971, my first Laverda” Gulinelli tells us. “It was an M152 model, purchased from the Agricultural Union. Since then, I’ve been faithful to Laverda, replacing the previous machines with three M152 models, one 3600, a 3700, a 3850 and a 3790. In the end, I’ve almost lost count of the 3790 machines we’ve had, but there must have been 8 or 9. Our current fleet of machines includes as many as nine Laverdas, confirming how loyal we are to the brand”. And when it comes to running costs, Gulinelli is very eloquent: “The average yearly cost of the machines we use comes to about 7 million of the old lira currency and particularly concerns expenses for repairs. The fact that the Laverda machines all use
Centre, Mauro Sovrani
the same components has certainly kept these costs down, when it comes to both maintenance and repairs”. Romolo Sovrani is also a farm contractor. “My father started the business in 1958. He was employed by a firm in Ferrara that manufactured fixed combines, so our family had acquired quite a lot of experience. Nowadays, after 45 years in the business,” explains Sovrani, “our company is now into its third generation: first my father Emilio, then me and lastly, my son Mauro who is now the proprietor. We’ve had lots and lots of machines of different makes: from the first Arbos 1000 model to the John Deere machines of the ‘60’s. We actually got to Laverda fairly recently, with our first L521 model purchased in 1996. Anyway, with the 8 different models now used by our company we can call ourselves true connoisseurs of the “reds”. In actual fact, since 1995 we’ve been making a big investment that has allowed us to completely renew our fleet of machines,” continues Sovrani. “And Laverda’s technology has played a truly important role in this modernization plan.” “When it comes to rice, the M306 has everything you need” The farm owned by brothers Flavio e Paolo Vercellino is situated in the countryside of the Vercelli area. Here, the password is “rice-cultivation” and the Vercellino family has been growing
Flavio and Paolo Vercellino
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4 rice for generations. “Our grandparents started up the farm at the beginning of the ‘30’s” says Flavio Vercellino, “and we are the third generation. During these years it has grown to its current size, 300 hectares, all of which used for growing rice”. But how did Laverda come on the scene? “We were looking for a machine that was functional yet simple. We chose the M 306 model, which truly has everything we need. I’d really like to underscore how perfectly it’s balanced, something I’ve never found in any other combine. It makes our M 306 very agile both at work and during headland manoeuvres, without damaging the ground”. A brief trip to Tuscany to meet Umberto Viti, a farm contractor from Castiglion Fiorentino, near Arezzo. A diehard Laverda enthusiast for over thirty years, seeing that his first fleet of machines comprised a Laverda M100, purchased in 1968, a Fiat 450 tractor and a baler. “I bought the second M100 two years later and in 1975, the first M132 produced in Breganze,” remembers Viti. “we were the first to have it in the entire province of Arezzo. I can remember the various steps in the history of our company by thinking about the new Laverda models we’ve purchased throughout the years: the first M112 in ’76, the second M112 in ’78 and the second M132 with its Fiat Turbo engine. From the middle of the eighties onwards, these machines were substituted by various new models: an M182, a 3700, a 3550 designed for the market of the Middle East, a 3900 and finally, a 3550 bought in 1992. The last Laverda machine to arrive here was the 2560 LX, ideal for our work with wheat and sunflower crops without use of the straw chopper. I was the one to choose it and the optimum results we’ve achieved have proved me right”.
Fabrizio and Nazareno Ferretti
We discovered a newly converted Laverda enthusiast in Sicily, i.e. Nino Paterniti, from Contrada Impennata, Ramacca, Catania. He runs a young enterprise, which was only established in 1997. “The first machine I bought was one of Laverda’s 3560 AL self-levelling combines,” says Paterniti, “now replaced by a 2450 AL 4WD model. Our strong point is the reliable way we provide our customers with high quality grain products and we also owe this to the reliability of Laverda’s machines and their technology. And our choice for the future will also be Laverda: I’m already toying with the idea of a 255 AL 4 WD!”.
Umberto Viti
“When I was not yet born” Fabrizio Ferretti from Montespertoli, near Florence, is also a staunch Laverda fan: “My father Nazareno started up the business in 1969 when I, now 32 years old, was not yet born. The relationship with Laverda began immediately as the first machine my father bought was an M84 with a bagging system to collect the crop. The M120 Laverda machine bought in 1973 is still going strong even now, after thirty years: a good example of long-life and reliability”.
Nino Paterniti
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5
The grain resource for cattle, pigs, chickens & Co. The leader is corn: it’s the most widely used and the only one where production has increased The rations, also called diets, used for feeding livestock mainly include grain crops or their by-products. These ingredients are milled, mixed together and given to the animals in either a dry or wet form. Amongst these crops, in order of importance, there are corn (or maize), barley, oats, wheat, sorghum, rye, rice and the byproducts obtained from milling wheat, such as bran and middlings. With a livestock population amounting to over 600 million head, barely enough to meet the food requirements of the Italian population, the demand for raw materials able to cover the daily nutritional needs of the breeding farms (almost exclusively situated in the northern regions, particularly in Lombardy and Emilia Romagna) is of enormous proportions. Italy’s overall animal-breeding production has not changed much over the past 20 years. About 60% of its needs come from productions of a vegetable origin while the remaining 40% are of animal origin. If the total production of grain crops has actually diminished during the past few years, the corn crop has increased to become the most important cereal used for animal feeding processes in our country. And the dairy cattle sector is the most important user of this crop followed by beef cattle, pigs and poultry in general. Still speaking of the last 20 years, the degree of self-sufficiency when it comes to grain crops, has increased from 67% to 82%. However, amongst the various types of grain crop, the degree of self-sufficiency differs to a considerable extent. Common wheat has dropped from 94% to 56%, while corn has increased from 50% to 94% and barley from 23% to 68%.
When it comes to common wheat, the current production rates are unable to meet the quickly growing demand for human consumption, neither they are able to compete with the high efficiency obtained in the productions of Northern Europe. On the other hand, the Italian corn production has leapt from 4.7 million tons to the current 7.3 million tons, more than enough to cover Italy’s needs. How the breeding farms are distributed • Cattle. Over the past five years, the total number of cattle breeding farms has dropped by about 40% and by 15% when it comes to the number of animals reared. The drop in this type of entrepreneur has been due to the disappearance of the small breeding farms that generally contained not more than twenty head. In the case of dairy cattle, the drop in the number of animals reared has been particularly influenced by the European Union policy and above all, by application of the quota system. • Pigs. The number of breeding farms has dropped by about 30% but the average size of the farms has decidedly increased, especially in relation to the ones with land. These enterprises generally cultivate corn so as to fully or, at least, partly cover their needs. • Poultry. The number of breeding farms has remained more or less the same. In actually fact, the poultry sector has undergone a substantial remodelment process since the ‘70’s. So much so, most of the production now comes from large groups that are vertically integrated and based on strong capitalization. This has allowed our country to become self-sufficient and to con-
duct a careful planning policy no longer conditioned by uncontrollable external factors. The location of the breeding farms The locations of the breeding farms fortunately goes handin-glove with the crop productions and in these areas, all the marketing activities concerning the sector are generally well developed. Most of the farms are situated in the five regions in the north of Italy, i.e. Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Emilia Romagna. 80% of the poultry production is located in these regions, 55% of the pig productions are in Lombardy and Emilia, while 60% of the cattle are raised in Lombardy, Veneto, Piedmont and Emilia Romagna.
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6 The animal productions Statistics from the market show that beef consumption during the past few years has remained fairly stable even though there has been a decided drop as compared to the consumptions of ten years ago. Poultry, pork consumptions and those of dairy products are also stable. Our country is self-sufficient when it comes to poultry while this is not true of the pork, beef and dairy product sectors. In this scenario, our production tends to become stable while exports are in serious difficulty, particularly owing to the unfavourable rate of exchange between the euro and dollar. The development of the animal breeding production market has recently been heavily conditioned by events like the “mad cow” disease, by the new European Union policies like application of the quota system and re-discussion of the world trade agreements. All these factors will seriously change the future scenarios, especially in the dairy and beef cattle sectors, with a weak growth when it comes to the poultry and pig productions.
Species Total cattle Dairy cows Beef cattle Calves/heifers Buffalos Total poultry Broilers Laying hens Turkeys Guinea fowl Total pigs < 20 Kg >20 < 50 Kg For fattening Boars Sows Others Sheep Goats Horses
Number of head (x 1000) 7.485 2.125 4.000 1.200 160 581.800 474.000 52.900 32.800 22.100 8.140 1.500 1.500 4.350 60 580 150 11.000 1.400 350
The livestock population in Italy
tion, 25% of the market share is held by Veronesi, Pavo Faeda, Gloria and Amadori. Amongst these manufacturers, Veronesi produces 15%.
The feed production sector
Grain crops
The total production of complete feeds and fortifiers (proteic substances) is strongly concentrated, to the tune of about 80%, in the above mentioned regions of northern Italy. When it comes to cattle, the production of complete feeds for cattle has undergone a negative trend. On the other hand, the trend is stable for pigs, chickens and laying hens and strongly growing for turkeys. The production of supplementary fortifiers follows the negative trend for cattle, chickens, laying hens and turkeys. The pig sector is growing at a fast rate due to the increasing number of breeders who use their own farm resources, such as corn. The feed production industry is mainly located in the northern Italian regions. The majority of the mills is situated in Emilia Romagna: quite often, they direct their produce to a local market, usually with a production average that is necessarily low. The opposite is true in the Veneto region, where the average size of the mills is larger and continues to grow. The only exception is Lombardy, where there has been a substantial drop in the number of feed mills with a corresponding downswing when it comes to production, as well. These enterprises produce more than 60% of Italian feedstuffs. Of this por-
The five Italian regions mentioned in this article produce the following national crop percentages: 60% of the common wheat, 85% of the corn, 60% of the sorghum, 45% of the barley, 80% of the ensiled maize crop, 99% of the soya and 100% of the rice. Over the past 10 years, the cultivation practices have been subjected to radical modifications in both Italy as a whole and in the individual regions. The area used for cultivating common wheat has decreased by almost 50%. While corn has enjoyed a positive growth, sorghum, barley and maize for ensiling purposes have been subjected to a variable trend. The area used for oil plants such as soya and sunflowers grew considerably since the beginning of the ‘90’s as a result of the subsidies handed out by the European Union policies, while it has decidedly dropped during the past few years even though considerable developments are expected in view of the prices of the competitor grain crops of recent times. We have witnessed a drastic drop in the Italian production of common wheat, while the corn production has continued to grow and should settle at around 8.5 million tons produced. In view of the current market prices, cultivation of maize for ensilage purposes is bound to drop especially as many
Cattle: Total population ( x 1000 head)
1994
2000
Italy Piedmont Lombardy Veneto Friuli Emilia Romagna Other regions
7.591 1.021 1.893 1.126 130 824 2.597
7.200 950 1.600 1.000 90 790 2.400
Pigs: Total population Italy Piedmont Lombardy Veneto Friuli Emilia Romagna Other regions
8.396 810 2.940 637 197 1.896 1.917
7.960 790 3.100 570 200 1.500 1.800
32.839 3.410 6.461 6.572
32.808 3.500 6.500 6.350
Laying hens Italy Piedmont Lombardy Veneto
Distribution in the market of corn and barley for animal consumption
Corn (x 1000 Ton)
1994 1998 2001
Usable production Imports Animal nutrition Self-consumption by farms Feeds Barley (x 1000 Ton) Usable production Imports Animal nutrition Self-consumption by farms Feeds
7.719 812 6.931 1.350 5.500
7.950 921 6.920 1.350 5.600
8.000 870 7.000 1.350 5.400
1.741 1.616 1.450 436 790 650 1.856 2.055 1.812 500 500 500 1.500 1.350 1.200
Distribution in the market of grain crops for animal and human consumption
breeding farms have closed down. All this confirms that the cultivation trends of the crops required as raw materials for the feed industry will be subjected to slight changes in the immediate future considering that crop growing, breeding farms and feed mills are all concentrated in a few of the northern regions. It is also evident that crops with high production rates that get the most out of the soil and weather conditions like corn are now preferred. Massimiliano Martinelli
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7
The master that makes you “doctors” in Laverda Continuous updates widen the training offer for customers and dealers Now more than ever before, the production of a commodity and the sales actions undertaken to sell it are merely the beginning of our relations with the customers. Although it possesses its own indisputable intrinsic value, the actual commodity is not merely considered as such. Other factors contribute towards choosing and purchasing. Extremely important factors such as the brand-name, the service, customer care, the attention paid to the customer’s requirements, the technical back-up, the time dedicated by the company to dialoguing… Careful, though. The brand-name is of value as it is associated with the quality and reliability of the product plus the company’s ability to face not only the market as a whole but, and in particular, the individual end customer. If this approach is already remarkable when it comes to consumer goods, about which the consumers themselves are increasingly more aware and documented, its importance is even more evident in a niche market like that of combine harvesters and harvesting machines, where the customers are always extremely competent and, owing to this, able to evaluate the products in a practical way with full knowledge of the facts. What can therefore be done to increase the level of customer loyalty and provide added value for the product? Various different things. Besides the after-sales service (have a glance at the article on pages 12 and 13 as seeing is believing), the Breganze enterprise firmly believes in training all those who belong to the “Laverda world” with various roles and functions. To be able to compete on the markets of the world, you need to encourage high training and quality levels. You need to turn the human factor to account in a concrete way, knowing that training is an effective and absolutely necessary addition to the product. For Laverda, training thus becomes an integral part of the offer. This is why the Laverda Master was created. It’s an on-going training and refresher program that’s not merely dedicated to in-company personnel (in both the sales/marketing and technical areas) but also to the external sales network, the
dealers, the service technicians and, lastly, to the end users. For those who do not work in the actual company, the purpose of the Laverda Master is not merely to acquire new technical-practical knowledge so as to use the machines in a better way and consequently increase one’s productivity and profit (which still remain extremely important aspects considering their economic repercussions), but also to share the brand values and pass them on to those who work outside the company. Taking part personally in the life of the enterprise, even for only a few days, leads to the creation of a positive atmosphere of the utmost collaboration. And this in turn creates a strong sense of belonging. The new training program is generally based on two precise principles: the principle of continuity and the principle of customizing one’s dealings. The mere fact of having taken part in a training course doesn’t mean that everything stops there. It is the beginning of an articulated action that embraces several levels. One that commences with the basic courses but that goes on to refine the level of training and specialization to an even greater extent in successive sessions. The aim is to create a culture of the product, proposing this latter as an instrumental means for producing profit. The techniques used by the training staff include active involvement of the partici-
pants. Classic theoretic sessions are alternated by practical phases during which the participants are able to get first-hand knowledge about the actual machine components in the factory itself. They can see the production processes or, in the case of courses for technicians, try their hand at disassembling and re-assembling the parts, using the diagnostic equipment and precision instruments with practical tests involving both the hydraulic and electrical components. The training staff from both the company and from outside sources, are true experts when it comes to the product and are fully familiar with the markets of the globe. People able to pass on a whole wealth of information acquired during years of experience in the company and throughout the world. People who are always very close to the customers, perfectly able to receive and analyse the feed-back from the market. The Laverda Master courses habitually take place in the Breganze plant, but can also be held in the branch offices or headquarters of Laverda’s dealers and importers. Or even on the field, alongside the end customer. This is just another of the ways in which Laverda wants to be close to its customers. Simonetta Lambrocco
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Argo informs
Gruppo Industriale ARGO
Landini, 250 dealers flock to the dealer meeting 371 million euro invoiced in 2004 On 18 February at the Pedrazzoli theatre of Fabbrico (RE), Landini’s Dealer Meeting, the annual meeting with the Italian sales force, got together to analyse the market results and discuss the future projects and goals. Over 250 dealers flocked to the venue and were therefore able to get first-hand information about the work carried out within the group and about the results achieved in 2004, with 17,499 tractors sold for the Landini brand alone, enabled that enterprise to achieve a 14% portion of the market which, according to the forecasts, will exceed 16% in 2005. A highly appreciable result which also reflects in the turnover: for the Landini brand, this amounted to 371 million euro in 2004, little less than half the turnover of the entire Argo Group, which reached 803 million euro in the same year. Powermaster and Landpower: make way for the new tractors The important innovations presented at the Sima trade-fair in Paris and about to be launched on the market, are two new tractor ranges in the 118 to 214 Hp medium-high power bracket, i.e. the “Powermaster” and “Landpower” series. New in design, balanced in shape and functional, Powermaster marks a true revolution in Landini’s 175 to 214 Hp power range. The Powermaster series includes the 180, 200 and 220 models. A development of the Legend series, the Landpower range is a completely new series of tractors designed with the future in mind. Although we’re not talking about a simple restyling, the versions have remained the same as those in the Legend series, i.e. Techno, Top and Top Tronic, plus Transport. McCormick’s innovation-tractors on show in Paris, in the Argo stand McCormick presented several important innovations in the Argo Group’s stand at Sima, the international trade-fair of Paris, which took place from 28 February to 3 March. Amongst these there was the McCormick “XTX”, the new tractor series that comprises three models with 173 to 228 HP power ratings, XtraSpeed transmission with 32 + 24 speeds (48 + 40 with the creeper) and the new cab that had already been presented on the “VTX” model at Eima of Bologna. Similarly to all the MTX models, McCormick’s MC and MC Power 6 tractors were also presented, with the “sprung cab” option available for the entire range. McCormick’s C-Max range, already presented at Eima, was also on show in the version with the original McCormick cab.
Valpadana’s 6500 tractors now include a cab version The cab version of Valpadana’s 6500 series, already presented at Eima 2004, has been available for the 6550 ISR and 6560 ISR models since last January. This cab has been regularly approved for road circulation and fully complies with the safety standards currently in force.
8
The markets
Argo lines up the fleet at the revamped Sima show All the innovations from Laverda, Landini, McCormick, Fella, Pegoraro and Valpadana together in a huge stand A stand measuring over 2,500 square metres in hall number 6 housed the vast range of products from the different brands belonging to the Argo Industrial Group at the 2005 Sima trade-fair. Six gigantic illuminated panels represented each brand according to its relative sphere of activity (McCormick for high-power tractors, Landini for its vast tractor range, Valpadana for specialized tractors, Laverda for combineharvesters, Fella for haymaking and bale-making machines and Pegoraro for soil-working implements). The French venue was an optimum showcase for the products of the Italian Group in a year in which Sima’s usual formula had been revamped. The main innovations concerned halls 5B and 6, where all the manufacturers of farming implements displayed their wares along with leading industrial groups like Argo. This new division changed the visiting habits and allowed the halls that were usually less frequented to attract their share of the public. Once again, Sima was much more than an exhibition. It has always been an event that allows the exhibitors to present their products, services and companies. The visitors can both see and actually touch the machines and ask the exhibitors for all the information they need. In short, a meeting place where business-men and buyers exchange information on both an international and regional scale, a big showcase, a glimpse at the various markets of the world, a venue where manufacturers, dealers and users of agricultural materials from different countries all get together in a comprehensive, welcoming, multilingual context that’s sometimes very informal and even dialectal. This widespread diversity is one of the keys to the success of the event, to which about 180,000 visitors flocked the last time it was held. Of these, 67% were farmers while the remaining 33% were dealers, farm-contractors or forestal enterprises. One of the important things to note was that about 25% of these visitors came from abroad. With its six brands, the Argo Industrial Group exhibited its global production and made no mystery of its ambitions thanks to the numerous innovations on show. Amongst these, the new McCormick CX-L, XTX tractors and a preview of the VTX series featuring continuous transmission, Landini’s new Landpower and Powermaster tractors, the new cab on the Powerfarm model, ELS sensors for the Vision model and Valpadana’s 6560 ARM articulated tractor. Along with these machines, the exhibits included the VB 218 CS variable chamber baler, Fella’s 9 m disc mowers, Laverda’s 225 REV combine harvester and the new features of Laverda’s M series
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9 (electrically controlled closing system for the 9,000 l. tank and the automatic air conditioner). Integrated hydraulic adjustment for Pegoraro’s D and H series rotary harrows was also one of the innovations presented. Every Laverda product stems from the same philosophy, that of “meeting the needs of users in the sector”. Specialized brands from independently run companies that have joined forces to form a strong industrial entity: this was the message perceived by visitors to Sima 2005. Rémi Hugueny
Rémi Hugueny
The sales team gets stronger in France Berny M&S and Anselin Soudais are the new partners for Sarthe, Mayenne and Seine Maritime The dealership network of Laverda France has been extended even further. Consequently, Laverda is becoming even more firmly rooted in the French market, with new investments made into human resources as well as the financial and logistic aspects of the business, this to meet the needs of the customers in this important country across the Alps in an even better way. Similarly to Laverda’s philosophy when business partners are chosen, the salient features are always the same: comprehensive technical training, extensive and far-reaching presence in the area and an all-embracing ability to assist the customers with an efficient after-sales service. Two new partners have recently become part of Laverda’s French division, partners possessing tried-and-tested professional skills and motivation thanks to their specialization in the harvesting sector, and which cover important portions of the market. In the departments of Sarthe (72) and Mayenne (53), the new dealer is Ets Berny M&S, a company situated in Voivres les Mans
(72). It started selling Laverda’s combine harvesters in November 2004 and is able to cover the area in a highly professional way thanks to lengthy experience in the sector, as well as the fact that all the staff members who deal with the various aspects of the business (sales, spares and assistance) have frequented adequate training courses concerning the products. The trading results have already proved to be very fruitful. The entire department of Seine Maritime (76), where the prevalent activities are animal breeding and cultivation of a very varied number of grain crops (in this region, the favourite combine models come from Laverda’s Rev series), the dealership and after-sales service activities are handled by Ets Anselin Soudais, with its headquarters in Bermonville (76). Anselin sells Laverda products from three business premises which have been operative since September 2004. We at Laverda naturally extend our warmest welcome to our new partners and wish them all the best for every success in the future.
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“Full immersion” for Laverda and Venetian art Our Spanish customers visited the factory and went on a tour of Venice Work and tourism, business and art. These were the ingredients of the twoday visit to Italy of a group of about thirty Spanish customers accompanied by the sales managers of Laverda’s Spanish branch, Andres Moradas and Juan Carlos Mata Bellido, and by Diego Arce Garcia, sales manager of Arce Garcia, one of the most important dealers in Spain. To put the guests at their ease, Laverda took them to Venice for a whole afternoon, accompanied by a guide. A very much appreciated tour around the canals and squares of the ancient city, also thanks to the almost spring-like day. Amongst the attractions that drew the attention and aroused the curiosity of the participants most, was certainly the visit they made to a craftsman’s glassworks. Here, they were able to witness the creative art of glassmaking firsthand, an art that in Venice and the neighbouring islands, boasts an ancient tradition known throughout the world. Then there was the classic but always breathtaking stroll around Piazza San Marco, a gem surrounded by landscapes, monuments and palaces steeped in history and art. Umpteen photographs were taken of the group with various view and buildings as a background. Refreshed by their Venetian tour, the Spanish visitors dedicated their unswerving attention to Laverda the next day. Here, they got an insight into the history, the products, the assembly lines and departments in the vast factory of Breganze. Angelo Benedetti, marketing and sales manager, was the person who welcomed the Spanish group. As he introduced the day’s work schedule, he also explained the Laverda philosophy: targets of quality and excellence in the production of highly qualified machines that compete on the markets with those of the most important manufacturers in the world, plus assiduous assistance at the service of customers all over the globe. The day then proceeded with a full presentation of Laverda’s history, from founder Pietro Laverda who established the company in 1873 and the first farming machinery dating back to the end of the nineteenth century and to the twentieth century, at the end of the fifties, with the first Italian combine-
harvester, the M60 model; the impetuous growth of the following decades, with the participation of Fiat, through to the last few years that witnessed the rebirth of the company and, in June 2000, Laverda’s acquisition by the Argo Group. A process whereby, as desired by Valerio Morra, the chairman of the Group, the red harvesting machines have been re-launched alongside an important tractor production. And to back Laverda’s prestigious history, the guests were then accompanied by Simonetta Lambrocco, the public relations manager, to the Laverda museum, symbol and tangible testimony of the founder’s genius and of over 130 years of company history. The morning drew to a close in the company of technicians Gianfranco Dal Santo and Mario Zolin who gave a practical demonstration of the new Laverda machines in the central courtyard, explaining the technical specifications, the ways in which the machines are used and serviced, their operating skills, and answering the guests’ questions and comments about the specific needs of a market like that of Spain which, for Laverda, represents an increasingly more important
value. After lunch, the group visited the assembly line and witnessed the various production phases, observing the seriousness, the professional way and care taken in creating the product, from the planning phase through to testing. The Spanish visitors were particularly attracted by the assembly line, where they saw how a combineharvester complete with all its “exclusive advantages”, such as the Pfr, the long straw-walkers with active surfaces, the threshing components with the wellknown Mcs system and the comfortable cab with its intuitive controls and excellent visibility, is put together, stage after stage. The Spares Service was appreciated for its automatic processes and the highly efficient way in which it is run, a sure-fire guarantee of problem-free harvesting campaigns. Lastly, a glance at the shipping department from whence the Laverda machines leave the factory each day to reach fields throughout the world. Satisfied with the interesting visit and already thinking about the next Laverda combine to buy, our guests then departed, homeward-bound. Andrea Freddoni
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Krasnodar Russian ambassador in Italy The important region on the Black Sea has opened a representative office in Milan The Institute for Foreign Trade has baptized 2005 as the “year of Russia”. And it could not have begun in a better way: last 24 February, the first official representative office in Italy of the Governor of Krasnodar was inaugurated in Milan. The important Russian region now has its Italian trading “outpost” in the new headquarters of Anima, in via Scarsellini 13, Milan. The representative office was opened at the same time as an important agreement with the Provincia department of Milan was signed. Moreover, numerous industrial contacts between Russian and Italian entrepreneurs were also made since the lovely region that borders on the Black Sea offers new business opportunities. The understanding signed by the provincial administration, the Russian ambassador in Italy and the Region of Krasnodar will allow these bodies to establish business, cultural and human relations to an even greater extent. To truly understand the reasons why this representative office has been opened in Italy, one need just remember that, over the past five years, Italy has been one of the three main trading partners of the region of Krasnodar. And the visit to Laverda last November was rather the first step towards a relationship that is becoming increasingly more consolidated. A vast area alongside the Black Sea Situated in the south of European Russia, the Krasnodar area is the only region in southern Russia to have access to the Black Sea. Krasnodar is in fourth place in Russia as to population density and its area measures 76.000 sq.km. The climate is the temperate continental type, while it is the Mediterranean kind along the Black Sea coast. Similarly to the other Russian territories, Krasnodar is a second level administrative unit. This means that it has more autonomy than the other provinces, but less than the federate republics. Krasnodar is administered by a Governor and a democratically elected legislative Council. At the present time, the administrative leader of the region is Tkaciov Aleksandr Nikolaevich. The economic resources and agriculture Agriculture is the main economic sector in the Krasnodar area. Wheat, sunflower, fruit, vegetable, vine and rice cultivations dominate the sector. The region is one of the main producers of wheat and livestock in the whole of Russia. The lands of Kuban (this is the second official name of the region) possess great potential
From right to left, during the meeting in Breganze, Aldo I. Dian, Remezkov Aleksandr Alexandrovich and Michele Trincia.
when it comes to farming. Local agriculture accounts for 14.9% of the regional gross product and more than 6% of the national gross product with wheat (10%) beet (27%) and sunflower (20%). The farmland in the region amounts to over 4 million hectares and the fertile soil allows the whole range of the crops grown in temperature climates and some of those typical of subtropical zones to be cultivated. In short, the Region of Krasnodar is a reliable food source for the whole country. Moreover, agriculture also provides an important contribution towards employment: almost one quarter of the active population works in this sector. In 2003, the farms of Kuban harvested more than 5.2 million tons of wheat (the most important national result). And when it comes to mineral resources, the region provides quartz sand for the iron and steel industry, raw materials for the chemical industry, iodine and liquids containing bromine. Speaking of industry, the most important one in the region is that of food production, also linked to the farming world. The region boasts 16 sugar-works, 43 dairies, 23 meat-processing industries, 24 factories for producing canned vegetables, 2 tobacco factories, 51 winegrowing companies, 11 wine-making factories and 4 distilleries. Profitable prospects for the Laverda world Two of Krasnodar’s important politicians came to visit Laverda on 29 November 2004: vice-
governor Remezkov Aleksandr Alexandrovich and vice-governor Diacenko Nikolay Pavlovich, in charge of the agricultural policies. Laverda’s managing director Aldo I. Dian, marketing manager Angelo Benedetti and Michele Trincia, Laverda’s contact in the Krasnodar area, were there to meet them and to spend the day with them. Considering the importance of agriculture in the region of Krasnodar, with a particular emphasis on rice cultivation, and in view of the fact that a hundred-or-so of Laverda’s combine-harvesters are already at work in the area, the two politicians wanted to get to know the Breganze company first-hand, and their impression was a very positive one. The relations with Laverda are considered preferential, especially as trade with Italy is being strongly encouraged and in view of the growth potential of the agricultural economy in this Russian region. The day spent together drew to a close with the traditional exchange of gifts, during which Alexandrovich and Pavlovich gave Laverda an interesting book about the history and traditions of the region, while Laverda presented the Governor of Krasnodar with a special trophy. Diacenko was then taken for a visit to the Melotti rice-mill of Isola della Scala (Vr), where he was able to observe the numerous products that can be made with rice.
Anna Nesterova
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The services cura di Simonetta Lambrocco
The mission of the “guardian angels” in red The technical assistance service: men ready to work in any part of the world “In the world of agriculture, the name Laverda has been well known for the past 130 years for its excellent reputation for reliability and service. Laverda has always been and will always want to be a name that is a guarantee in itself. And besides investing in product development, it has always wanted its after-sales service to be held in the utmost consideration.” This is how Pietro Dal Santo, the man in charge of the Service and of Laverda’s “practical marketing” introduces the philosophy of his division, which considers the customer as the centre of its world. A strategic service, because you must never lose sight of the people who actually use the machines if you want to be successful in the field of harvesting machines. Suggestions from the expert user customers, practical experience with the many crops harvested (which differ from country to country and from year to year), work alongside the dealers to keep them up to date with the information provided by the parent company, peace of mind, knowing that there is always someone you can count on close to hand: all this makes up the wealth of resources and experience that Laverda has always held in the greatest consideration, thus creating a highly professional after-sales service. “The end customers are certain of having made an excellent investment, thanks to the optimum quality of the machines,” explains Dal Santo “but all the harvesting machine experts acknowledge that the competent experience of someone in the company, suggestions about how to adapt the machines to harvesting conditions that vary year by year, or a visit to the fields so as to give the right advice are all equally important: in short, awareness of the needs of both the customers and dealers”. And all this is part of the professional know-how of Laverda’s technical assistance staff. During the harvesting campaigns, the assistance technicians are always at the complete disposal of the dealers and customers in the fields of the most different countries of the world, everywhere that Laverda’s farming machines reap success. “The technical assistance team comprises eighteen office workers and technicians,” continues Pietro Dal Santo. “The majority of these staff members possess more than 25 years of experience with the Service
division. The fact that they all get on well together, help each other out and exchange their ideas during our interfunctional meetings has allowed this group to become appreciated wherever it has worked in the world. We could write a book about the experience and situations faced by these technicians in their numerous missions across the globe. The various episodes are sometimes amusing, since every country has its customs and habits, but sometimes our people must adapt themselves with considerable difficulty to the extreme conditions they must face. This is also why the experience acquired by these technicians is difficult to find in other sectors: apart from the difficulties in getting acclimatized, problems with the language and inter-personal relations, you also have to stay away from your family for long periods of time when you’re on your own and abroad. I,” adds Dal Santo, “am personally honoured and proud to work with colleagues who are so attached to Laverda and so rich in the spirit that helps to improve our know-how, day after day. When he works away from the company, the servicing technician actually represents it. He must therefore always be willing to help, be polite and impeccable. He must always remember that he’s part of a group that is so important for farm mechanization throughout the world”. But here are the members of the team as described by Pietro Dal Santo. Albino Bertacco has been working for Laverda for 30 years and for 25 of these years with the technical assistance division. He speaks English, Spanish and French and has carried out servicing jobs in 34 different countries. During the winter, he deals with technical training and prepares the relative teaching materials. When the harvesting season is in full swing, his work takes him to the south of Italy in particular, but he’ll also go to any other country in the world if the need arises. Fabrizio Brazzale lhas been working with the technical assistance division since 1979 and is responsible for the “product behaviour” of the round balers and square balers. In the winter season, he holds training courses for the dealers’ technicians while in the harvesting periods, his work is of a practical nature in the fields, depending on the needs of the various markets. Between the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, he mainly worked for the French market as a technician for the combine-harvesters and for
Pietro Dal Santo
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13 training purposes. Luigi Bologna began work as a technical assistant in 1980. After having acquired practical experience in both Italy and abroad, he started to deal with Laverda’s technical publications in 1985, preparing operation and maintenance manuals, repair instructions, etc. His task now is to prepare the final copy for approval and printing of all Laverda’s operation and maintenance literature. Remigio Conzato came to the technical assistance division in 1995 after having worked in the various production divisions of the factory. He has been on various missions abroad to France, Guinea, Russia, Belgium and South Africa. Ignazio Fiandacca is one of our recent acquisitions. He decided to become an assistance technician two years ago, after having acquired experience in the production departments as an electrician. He spent a training period away from the company alongside more expert colleagues, but has already started to work on his own. Gieffri Fontana is another young member of the team, but he’s carrying on the family tradition as his father has been working for Laverda for over 35 years, thirty of which as a servicing technician. He deals with practical marketing and prepares for events and trade fairs but, when required, he also helps out with technical assistance in the field. Giorgio Fontana has been working with the technician assistance division for thirty years. He has been all over the world to service the Laverda machines but during the past few years, has considerably contributed towards the development of Laverda’s image in Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine where he works for many months of the year, holding practical training courses for the customers. Gian Franco Dal Santo started here in 1980 and since then, has worked in 38 different countries. He speaks English, Spanish, French and Romanian (he spent two years in Romania in the nineties so as to launch the after-sales service). He is currently responsible for the “product behaviour” of the combine harvesters. Valter Lovison joined the technical assistance team in the year 2000 and deals with the service outside the company for most of the year. He works mainly in Italy, but is always ready to go abroad if necessary. Davide Muraro is another recent arrival. After nine years with the production division, he decided to become a member of the technical assistance team, being eager to demonstrate his abilities and the experience he has acquired with Laverda. Flaviano Novello handles the Laverda warranty. He started work in the company in 1983 and came to the technical assistance division in 1994, where he analyses any complaints, a job in which the experience he acquired on the assembly line and in a practical way in the field comes to the fore. He also prepares the product behaviour analyses and updates the database. When necessary, he helps out with the technical publications by preparing the assembly instructions for the machines and accessories. Sonia Parisotto, always professional and willing to help out. After a first experience with the spares division, she began work with the technical assistance team in 1988 where she deals with technical publications and organizing activities for the technical courses. Silvio Poli has been working for Laverda for 32 years and, for 28 of these, has been with the technical assistance division. He has been to various different countries, but has dedicated most of his time to the French market, where he is very well known and appreciated by dealers and customers alike. Gaetano Re started to travel around the world for the technical assistance division in 1980. Since then, he has been practically everywhere. In the eighties, he stayed for ten months in Iraq, when Laverda exported hundreds of combines there. After this, he worked in Egypt, Pakistan, Cuba and Nicaragua, besides numerous European countries. During the past few years, he has been particularly dealing with Spain, where he successfully carries out practical servicing work as well as training the dealers and customers on technical matters. Valter Valente is another veteran of the technical assistance division where he has been working alongside the dealers and importers for about thirty years. He has been to countries like Iraq, Libya, Tunisia,
Guinea, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. He knows the customs and habits of these areas, where he is appreciated and esteemed by the customers. He also knows all Laverda’s customers in Sicily, since he normally dedicated more than two months of the year to this island. Renato Valle has been with the technical assistance division since 1980. Always willing to help and on-the-spot when the need arises, he has visited countries like South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Malaya, Japan and Kazakhstan, as well as all the European countries. His work has particularly involved Germany and Italy over the past few years. Giuseppe Viceconte, even though he only recently started working for Laverda, he has already given proof of his excellent knowledge of the German language, since he had worked in Germany on previous jobs. This is why he now deals mostly with Fella’s products. “Besides these professionals,” explains Dal Santo “our technical assistance division also has two managers for the French and Spanish markets.” Rémi Hugueny, the man in charge of technical assistance & marketing for France, began working for Laverda France in 2000 and handles the entire country along with two technical inspectors. Dynamic dealing and close contact with both dealers and customers are what dictates the success of the technical assistance service in France. And that’s not all, the market is also backed by the technicians from the central Service during the season. Josè Manuel Tavira has been responsible for technical assistance in Spain since 2003, but his knowledge of harvesting machines dates back much further since he is the son of our Spanish dealer. Manuel maintains contacts with all the dealers in Spain and visits them during the harvesting season”. And at the end of this long description about his colleagues of the Service he manages, a brief curriculum of Pietro Dal Santo himself is obviously a must. “I started to work for Laverda in 1975,” Dal Santo explains. “After a brief period in the testing department and as head of the mechanical machining and heat treatment department, I began in the technical assistance division way back in 1980. After I had acquired the necessary practical experience alongside more expert technicians, I dealt with the Italian market for about ten years. I was made technical assistance manager in 1994. Prior to June of the year 2000, I was Product Back-up manager on a worldwide scale for a few years with a multinational in the sector, where I coordinated a group of Italian and foreign technicians. This is a job I do with satisfaction and enthusiasm. I always try to help and collaborate with my colleagues as interpersonal understanding is very important in our job and even comes before the technical aspect. Our work outside the company certainly involves us in the technical sense, but is also strongly based on personal relations, since mutual trust must be at its utmost levels”.
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The album 14 June 1955: the adventure begins Laverda’s first combine-harvester was created fifty years ago. Since then, over 60,000 machines have passed through the gates of the Breganze plant There are times in the life of a company that are difficult to describe but that, for those who are fortunate to experience them, will always be unforgettable. Sensations that, years later, one tries to explain to one’s grandchildren in an attempt to re-create the atmosphere of an era that is fatally cancelled by the rapidly changing times. All this was certainly true for those who witnessed the first combine-harvester, way back in the ‘50’s. People who shared the enthusiasm of Cav. Pietro or who, perhaps, were present alongside the exuberant Dr. Francesco when the first engine of a Laverda motorcycle was started up. Just like the launching of a ship or the inauguration of a building, so the first turn of the key of the prototype of a new machine becomes a magical moment in the life of a company. And it was all the more so fifty years ago when everything depended on the manual skills of able mechanics and the imagination of ingenious designers, without the aid of sophisticated techniques or computerized procedures. At those times, one experienced an epic sentiment, like a challenge that unites all the protagonists, from the simple mechanic to the chief planning engineer, from the manager to the proprietor of the company. An atmosphere that allows one to quickly forget the difficulties encountered, all those hours, often beyond the normal work day, spent resolving big and small problems alike. A new creature was born, and everyone rightfully felt like the father of small or large part of it. And it was actually fifty years ago that this rite took place in the old Laverda factory of via Castelletto. It was an important occasion, one of the ones that deeply influences the life and destiny of a company. And the prototype of the first Laverda combine, the M 60 model, was driven out of the place that was rather emphatically called the “experience department”, to undergo its practical tests. It was driven by Marcello Zen, a worthy technician who, along with the then young graduate engineer Guadagnin and lots of other technicians, was a member of the team headed by Pietro Laverda jr. It was the month of June in 1955 and it marked the beginning of a new historic phase for the Breganze company which was striving to conquer fresh space in the Italian and European agricultural mechanization industry. A far-sighted strategy enacted by the Laverda brothers, well aware of the technical and production difficulties involved but also of the need to give impetus to a range of products that no longer satisfied the needs of the fully evolving farming practices. The project had been created only one year before, while matters had come to a head after a trip made by Pietro Laverda jr. to the United States and visits to many international trade fairs. The idea was technically based on a fair knowledge of fixed threshing machines, which were then being produced by many Italian companies, and of certain foreign combine-harvester
June 1955: the first M 60 combine-harvester prototype leaves the Laverda factory driven by Marcello Zen, the technical department manager. The signatures of Pietro and G.Battista Laverda appear on the photo, to confirm the importance of the event.
models that were already available on the Italian market, like the Massey Harris and Claeys models. But, as was to often happen afterwards, Laverda chose a road of its own by attempting to select the best of the technology on the market and interpret it in an original way. It marked a leap forwards as to quality and innovation which, for the Italian farming world, was comparable to the impact achieved by the Vespa scooter or the Fiat 600 car in the society of those economic boom years. The characteristics of this machine and the story of its production were already described in the 4/2002 edition of Laveraworld. The vintage photos depict the prototype, a somewhat unrefined machine with a wooden pick-up reel borrowed from the reaper-binders, lots of visible belts, an iron seat, levers and
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15 rods for mechanically controlling the various devices with notable effort. If we had been there at the time, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have also heard the throb of the four-cylinder Fiat 1400 gasolinefuelled engine that outfitted the machine! All that remains is a few black and white snaps and the memory of the words that the protagonists listened to then. What we can do now is to weigh up the progress made by the company during half a century of commitment in the combine-harvester sector. Throughout these fifty years in the business, the Breganze factory has produced over 60,000 machines, which have travelled towards the countryside of Italy and of numberless European and non-European countries. Tens of different models, hundreds of versions, tens of thousands of cutting headers. The most popular models, the ones we could now call the top ten of our classification, are (the number of machines produced is shown between brackets): M M M M
120 (7277), M 132 (6983), M 112 (5325), 100 (4308), M 152 (3710), M 84 (3432), 112AL (2226), 3550AL (1656), 3500 (1775), 75 (1376).
The machine being tested in the countryside around Breganze; with Marcello Zen in the driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seat.
The M series and REV series machines are now quickly climbing up the charts, desirous of reaching their illustrious forbears as soon as they can. Piergiorgio Laverda
The first M 60 assembly line, in 1956.
The prototype photographed in the factory courtyard.
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The history, the stories
Bread, and you know what you’re eating The age-old Italian tradition of the most popular product in the world In Ferrara, where the most famous type is called “coppia”, they are proud to affirm that theirs is the “best in the world” and like to remember how, way back in the thirteenth century, the city Charters set down rules with which the bakers had to strictly comply in order to provide good quality bread of the right shape. They were similarly proud at Este, in the Padua district (where the famous “manine” were made), bound to a tradition that was historically very near to that of Ferrara. The people of the Piedmont region are faithful to the legendary “biova”, but there are also tens of other varieties. Here, they tell the tale of the “stretched bread-sticks” created by the court baker in the 17th century after a physician had advised a young prince with a rather weak stomach to eat only light and digestible bread. The international success that followed is known to all, with the “les petits batons de Turin” that were all the rage at the French court. In the nearby Liguria, which has very much in common with Piedmont when it comes to the bakery tradition, the “cult bread” is called “fugassa” and is made with bread dough which is then flavoured as desired, i.e. with rosemary, oregano, onions, pork fat or with tomatoes, olives and anchovies. The bakers also offer it stuffed with “quagliata”, a very fresh cheese. Bread is so rooted in tradition in other areas that it’s even used for religious rites. Votive bread is the decoration used on altars and in the chapels along the roads for the feast of Saint Joseph in Salemi, in the province of Trapani. The women bake bread adorned by intricate decorations of a religious nature. Altamura, in the Bari district, has obtained the PDO protected designation of origin mark for its traditional bread and in Tuscany, they’re doing the same thing to safeguard the peculiarities of their famous bread without salt that’s a perfect accompaniment to any meal. In the regions of Central Italy, from Tuscany to the Marches, from Abruzzo to Lazio, they have drawn up an understanding so as to “certify” the entire production cycle, with inspections and coded phases throughout the process. We could go on writing about bread forever,
adding anecdotes and legends, describing the typical loaves to be found in our peninsula of which there must be at least 250 different kinds, since there are more than 1,500 known names for the product. These range from the “michetta” of Lombardy, to the “country bread” of the Veneto region and the Roman “ciriola”, through to those excellent by-products such as the Neapolitan “pizza”. Bread sacredness throughout the world, but most especially in Italy where we each get through about seventy kilos a year on average (we’re only beaten by the Austrians, Germans and Danes in Europe) has been handed down by our most ancient forefathers, by the timeless need for the populations to drive out hunger and ask for plenty. It dates back to the baking rites of the communities in tribes or families, in villages, suburbs and town quarters. More than any other type, Italian bread is particularly bound to craftsman’s skills. And this gives the product an added value, the image of a healthy, classic food that does not go against any dietary dictates. Over 90% of the product is purchased from bakeries which, over the last decades, have stopped being the plain and dingy little shops of way back to become true boutiques with a boundless creative flair and with turnovers like those of
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authentic businesses. The history of the product we eat each day is steeped in the bygone centuries, in the different areas of the world, amongst interpretations and suggestions. Bread started to become established when man changed from wanderer and hunter to become a settler and farmer. The first grain crops to be used would appear to have been barley, an ancient graminaceous plant, and millet. Rye and oats were already known as far back as the Bronze Age. But the prime grain product became wheat thanks to its characteristics, so suitable for bread-making. The ancient peoples first learned how to break up the grains and then to crush them so as to obtain a rough meal. Later on, they discovered the secret of leavening, allowing the dough to rest and obtaining softer and more voluminous loaves. The Egyptians were perhaps the first big-time bakers and builders of large ovens like the Greeks. They were users of public ovens, who let their imaginations run wild as to the types of bread they baked and the flavourings they used, while the Romans refined the art of flour milling. Bread-making as a public service began in Rome one and a half centuries before the birth of Christ and with Augustus, the number of public ovens in the city numbered several hundreds. But people also baked bread in their homes, something that was governed by special laws during the Empire. Several centuries later, the craftsman’s bakery trade “exploded” with the free city-states. New, increasingly more refined types of bread were created during the Renaissance period: use of yeast appears to have been experimented for the first time at the court of the Medici family. But the capital cities of “high-ranking” bread became Paris and Vienna. Bread-making machines appeared in the nineteenth century and the history of industrially produced bread began. Bread has been part of an infinite alternation of events that have now reached us and will proceed along with the history of man. But from prehistoric times to the future, one thing has always been and will always be the same, i.e. the quality of the grain crops, their cultivation, harvesting and conversion represent the real heart of the product.
This journal has been printed on recycled paper in full respect for the environment