International food corporations
Italy: Home of pasta, sauces, biscotti
and Big Snacks, all in a family
The Barilla Group has become a Big Snack company. Founder Pietro Barilla
(left), the chairman Guido Barilla (right) and their Ringo Black® cookies
Every month we publish a news story by Association member (also Rio 2012
programme committee member and membership secretary) Fabio Gomes.
Fabio Gomes reports From a family-owned local bakery shop in Parma founded in 1877 by Pietro Barilla (above, left) to a family-owned but now international food corporation at first specialising in pastas and sauces, the Italian Barilla Group of companies are pushing their borders into worldwide markets, cultures and tastes. Their Third International Forum on Food and Nutrition held between 30 November and 1 December in Milan, was a 'demonstration of the work of the Barilla Centre for Food & Nutrition' according to Guido Barilla (above, right), chairman of the Barilla Group and of its Centre for Food and Nutrition.
The meeting gathered nutrition big-shots, including Association members and Rio2012 speakers Marion Nestle, Philip James and Ricardo Uauy, to discuss issues of interest and concern to all Big Food corporations, such as genetic modification of foods, water supply, and malnutrition. Rio2012 speaker-participant Claude Fischler also supported the Forum as a Barilla advisor. Production and promotion of Barilla ultra-processed sugary, fatty and high energy-dense products such as Ringo Black® cookies (above, centre) were not discussed.
Box 1
The Barilla Group
Pietro Barilla (beginning of this story above, left) founded the first Barilla shop in 1877. This was a bakery shop located in the Strada Vittorio Emanuele, Parma, Italy. Except between 1971-1979, when the company was taken over by an US firm, Barilla has always been a family-owned company. It is currently chaired by the heir Guido Barilla (beginning of this story above, right). Nowadays, the Barilla Group comprises several branches besides BarillaTM. As well as their well-known pastas and ready-made pasta sauces (above, left), they now also produce, promote and sell biscuits, pastries, cakes, and other ultra-processed snacks, such as the sugary, fatty, high energy-dense Gocciole Chocolate® (above, right). In 2009 the group had a net sale of over 4.1 billion euros (US$ 5.5 billion).
In 2009 the Group followed other Big Snack corporations in establishing their own food and nutrition think tank. Like Nestlé (the Nestlé ResearchTM Centre), the Coca-Cola Company (its Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness) and others, the Barilla Group has created the Barilla Centre for Food & Nutrition to link the image of the company and its brands to technical and scientific improvements of their products, practices and policies. Its Forums on Food and Nutrition also began in 2009.
According to Marion Nestle 'their stated goal is to keep the business going for the next 200 years. To do this, they need to understand where the food scene is headed. They are seeking advice from a broad range of people and trying to stay on top of the global zeitgeist.' But she felt like she 'was there much more for decoration'.
That gives a clue to the purpose of the Forum. Council member and Rio 2012 speaker Carlos Monteiro points out that one increasingly common strategy taken by food corporations, in order to link their image and brands with progressive researchers and opinion formers, 'is to place them and their names on meeting programmes or advisory boards, assure them that they are independent, but at the same time ensure that they are kept solely as decoration, meaning that their recommendations and messages will not be taken into account by those in charge.' After all, food corporations are far more likely to follow recommendations made by economists, technologists and agronomists that will help them to scale up their businesses.
The place of pasta – and its sauces
Industries in the culinary ingredients business could be seen as helpful in the recovery of better ways of eating. The Barilla Group's declared vision is to 'help people live better, by bringing well-being and the joy of eating into their everyday lives'. We asked the Bolognese scholar Chiara Bodini, a leading member of the People's Health Movement in Italy, what she thought. She said that the commercial pasta sauces that Barilla sells 'are ultra-processed and developed to standardise your taste. Also, they discourage consumption of fresh vegetables and local foods'.
Besides, pasta and its sauces are not the only Barilla business. Carlos Monteiro points out that this includes the production and promotion of sugary, fatty, salty and high energy-dense ultra-processed products. These undermine and demolish the habit of family meals, as shown in an advertisement for Gocciole Chocolate®, which you can access here. Another example is Barilla's promotion of its Ringo® cookies produced by PavesiTM, a subsidiary company. Watch a Ringo ad below.
In an interview with the Barilla Centre of Food and Nutrition, Marion Nestle was asked about the role of consumers, governments and corporations in the achievement of better eating habits. She said: 'There has to be some kind of balance between consumers' interest, public health interest, government interest and corporate interest, and that means regulation... If we had more regulation, we would have much healthier diets for everybody'.
'It's a family-owned company' she added 'and the brothers want to keep the business going while doing the right thing. I see this as an impossible contradiction and their expansion into the "health food" market is evidence of that. To stay in business and to compete, they have to go beyond their core products (pastas and sauces) into functional foods. They are trying to do functional foods well. I see that as a contradiction but they view it as a business imperative, and there are plenty of people who like such products'.
