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Italian
celebrity chef and fresh pasta industry leader Giovanni
Rana has unveiled a wildly dressed up bespoke version of
the Fiat 500 at Cibus, 14th Salone internazionale
dell'alimentazione (International Food Exhibition)
which is being held in Parma this week.
His
eponymous business claims to be the European leader in
fresh pasta and he celebrated his unique heritage and
his place in Italian daily life by unveiling a
distinctive interpretation of the Fiat 500 at the
international food show. The one-off 500 has been
dressed in the style of his company's products with
large ravioli replacing the usual round headrests, a
lasagne effect being wrought for the front and rear seat
covers, door and boot linings, and a chunky oversize
agnolotto replacing the usual gearknob. The exterior has
been painted in pasta-effect colours, with the company's
crest mounted on the B-pillar, and the tailgate is
thrown open to reveal an array traditional Italian
culinary products while the exterior luggage rack holds
traditional leather cases.
Today,
Pastificio Rana is the unchallenged leader on European fresh
pasta market. They have reached this important target by
aiming at continuous innovation, superior quality and by
consolidating the strength of a brand that in decades has
been able to gain the trust of millions of consumers.
Constant investments in technology, research and
development, continuous innovation of product, policy fully
focussed on genuineness and high quality: these are some of
the winning factors that together with a marketing activity
- which has always been a recognized point of reference in
the world of media – have given a fundamental contribution
to the success of Rana products.
Giovanni Rana’s
great intuition to appear himself in all advertisements as
the first guarantee of his products, the campaigns
especially planned for each country, the communicative
project begun 15 years or so, have all made Pastifico Rana
gain a great widespread reputation.
Giovanni Rana’s
dream has come true and is now a European achievement that
has the ambition to expand to the whole world according to a
model that the Managing Director, Gian Luca Rana, likes
calling a ‘pocket multinational’: a big company, the only
one in this category which has developed on an international
scale, centred on quality, technology and development, which
never loses sight of its own traditional values, from which
outstands the centrality of human resources, the only real
intellectual patrimony of the Company.
"As an Italian
I’ve been surrounded by a true passion for cooking ever
since I was a child," says Giovanni Rana. "I started out as a delivery boy at my
father’s bakery in Verona, Italy. It was then that he taught me
that even the simplest of foods can be turned into a real delight. At that time, I found great joy in bread-making and the aromas that
came from the oven. While growing up, 'I fell in love' with fresh pasta. When I was
about 20 years old, I decided to start my own business making
Tortellini. It was an unusual time to start this kind of business
because people were still making their own pasta at home and few
could afford to buy it. My competitors were rolling pins and strong
family traditions.
"I created my own personal recipes in my kitchen and continued
developing them with pointers from housewives. My first clients
were local families who became so increasingly busy with work that
they had little time to make fresh pasta at home.
As my business expanded, I made sure that my company would be one
capable of preserving its genuine artisan approach. To do so, I use
only carefully selected top quality ingredients. I even patented a
pasta processing machine that reproduces the pasta maker’s hand
movements. This machine enables the pasta to have a particular
texture similar to that of pasta that is prepared from scratch.
My fresh pasta is a typical Italian product, a delicious dish,
complete and easy to prepare. It can be served every day or on a
special occasion. It’s the ideal solution for a quick lunch or a
pleasant dinner among friends.
"I still make all the new recipes in my kitchen. I like to create
new products while always being faithful to my Italian tradition. However, I realize the importance of keeping up with the times.
In 1961 I began making Tortellini with the help of ten women in a
small shop in San Giovanni Lupatoto, a country village not far from
Verona. I produced Tortellini only on order. The filling was prepared on
Thursdays and the whole product was made on Fridays and Saturdays. The Tortellini was then delivered on Sundays. Initially I delivered the products myself – first by motorcycle
and later in a Renault 4. In 1965 when the business started to
increase, my sister and four friends joined me to help to deliver
the products. My Tortellini was initially made by hand. In 1968 self-designed
machinery was utilized which allowed for a significant increase in
production. With this machinery, we increased from 110 – 130 lbs.
per week to 22 lbs. per hour!
"In 1971 the company grew out of its original space, so I moved the
production to another site in San Giovanni Lupatoto. The
headquarters, however, is still in the original location to this
day. At the end of the seventies, with the introduction of the new
machinery, it was finally possible to completely automate the
production process. In the eighties, there was such an impressive
increase in production that Giovanni Rana set off to take over the
Italian market!
It was in this time period that I promoted the great changes that
were gradually to favour the shift from a small family business to a
nationwide industrial organization. The structure of the company
was enlarged and a distribution network that covered all of Italy
was created. The look of the packaging was improved and investments
in advertising campaigns were increased. In 1990, I starred in my
own advertisements to personally guarantee the quality and excellent
taste of my products.
"Today, my company, Giovanni Rana, is the
unchallenged leader in the European fresh pasta market. It has
reached this important landmark by continuously aiming at innovation
and superior quality and by consolidating the strength of a brand
that for decades has been able to gain the trust of millions of
consumers.
My dream has come true! Giovanni Rana is now a European
achievement! I have the ambition to expand to the whole world
according to a model that my son, Gian Luca Rana, likes to call a
'pocket multinational.' We are a big company, the only one in this
category, that has developed on an international scale. Moreover,
we are centred on quality, technology, and development but never
lose sight of our own traditional values."
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