Barilla Group is an Italian multinational food company founded in 1877. It is the world's largest pasta producer.[2] The company operates 30 production sites, half of which are located in Italy and half internationally.
History
The company was founded in 1877 as a bakery shop in Parma, Italy, by Pietro Barilla Sr. The company expanded in 1908, and in 1910 Barilla inaugurated a new pasta factory equipped with a "continuous baking" oven.[3]
After the death of Pietro Barilla Sr. in 1912, his sons Riccardo and Gualtiero took the reins of the family company, increasing the production and distribution of products, thanks to technological innovations which allowed the company to rapidly transform itself, over the course of the 1920s and 1930s, into the most important bread and pasta company in Emilia-Romagna.
In 1919, Gualtiero Barilla died, leaving his brother Riccardo at the helm of the company together with his wife Virginia.
In 1947, Riccardo also died and the management passed to his sons Pietro and Gianni, exponents of the third generation.
With the advent of the two Barilla brothers, the company experienced a phase of great development, and in 1952, the production of bread was suspended to concentrate solely on pasta.