FIORE RETURNS RICCIARELLI TO THE NEW SIENA PLANT – Economy
THERE WAS A TIME in which the young Sienese pay for their holidays or studies are going to work in the holiday season in the Sienese sweets industry. In winter in Siena the air smelled of almonds, candied fruit and icing sugar, among the brands of panforte and ricciarelli, such as Fiore, Nannini and Pepi, Sapori dominated, in terms of turnover and notoriety. The spot ‘Who says Palio says Siena, who says Panforte says Sapori’ was one of the jingles that bounced more in the head, that brand also supported Mens Sana in the Serie A basketball championship, where they fought, often winning, with the big Northern teams. It was the seventies and eighties, the turnover of Sienese sweets, a niche of the Italian and foreign market, exceeded 100 billion …
THERE WAS A TIME in which the young Sienese pay for their holidays or studies are going to work in the holiday season in the Sienese sweets industry. In winter in Siena the air smelled of almonds, candied fruit and icing sugar, among the brands of panforte and ricciarelli, such as Fiore, Nannini and Pepi, Sapori dominated, in terms of turnover and notoriety. The spot ‘Who says Palio says Siena, who says Panforte says Sapori’ was one of the jingles that bounced more in the head, that brand also supported Mens Sana in the Serie A basketball championship, where they fought, often winning, with the big Northern teams.
It was the seventies and eighties, the turnover of Sienese sweets, a niche of the Italian and foreign market, exceeded 100 billion lire, concentrated at Christmas and Easter. Then consumers changed tastes, Sienese companies changed ownership and the decline of those brands that helped enrich Siena seemed unstoppable. The large Sapori factory, in the semi-central via Cavour in Siena, was transformed into prestigious apartments and the air in the city no longer smelled of almonds and candied fruit. This until yesterday, because Fiore, one of the historic brands of Sienese sweets, after 70 years in other locations, has opened a new factory in Siena. An investment of 5 million euros, not for infrastructures, because those spaces, once the headquarters of the general markets, are owned by the Municipality and the company pays a rent of 240,000 euros a year. Over 3 thousand cubic meters of production lines, divided into two sectors: one more industrial for ricciarelli and panforti, baked at the rate of 4 thousand every two hours. The other artisanal where Dolcezze Savini, the Florentine group that took over Fiore, bakes biscuits and other typical sweets. In the near future, another 500 cubic meters will be added for offices and company shop.
“The goal – explains the managing director of Dolcezze Savini and Fiore, Gabriele Filippini – is to achieve a turnover of 10 million euros in two years. The new plant will work with 80 employees, including seasonal workers. About fifty permanent employees will be employed. La Fiore he returns to produce in Siena after 70 years and this gives more strength to the IGP brand of panforte and ricciarelli. Because we are the only company with a factory in the city, apart from the artisan workshops “. At the cutting of the ribbon there were all the Sienese authorities, from the mayor Luigi De Mossi to the prefect Maria Forte. “The choice of Fiore is an honor for the city of Siena – said the mayor – and is proof that technological innovation can go hand in hand with tradition. It is one of the promising investments for Siena, from agri-food to pharmaceuticals. that can reconvert the economy “.
Fiore’s 10 million turnover is a milestone in turnover in the golden age of Sienese sweets. “It will not be easy to close the gap – explains the CEO Filippini – and I say this with full knowledge of the facts, having been president of the Ricciarelli and Panforte Consortium until three months ago. Today the turnover has halved, we are around 30 million euros. It is not a question of tastes, of Ricciarelli who have gone out of fashion. On the contrary, only that we do not invest in promotion and advertising. For thirty years there hasn’t been a Sienese company in the international fairs of sweets and pastry, we we returned to Cologne last weekend. Having the Protected Geographical Indication is certainly important, for Sienese sweets, but you have to support it with effective marketing campaigns. The historical television advertisements of decades ago are no longer possible today, because companies are not they have sufficient means. Aid from the Region would be needed on well-defined projects. In the meantime, Fiore has returned to produce in Siena. And we will work to ensure that our investment is profitable “.
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