Panzani is a French brand of pasta. Since 2021, it has been owned by CVC Capital Partners.[1][2]
Overview
The brand was started by Jean Panzani in Parthenay in 1950.[2] In the 1950s, he sold pasta in cellophane whereas other companies used cardboard.[2] From 1960 to 1964, it merged with La Lune and Régia Scaramelli.[2] It was in the 1960s that it became the market leader in pasta wholesalers in France. In 1964, Roland Barthes analysed a commercial by Panzani in his essay entitled 'The Rhetoric of the Image', suggesting Panzani was trying to come across as Italian.[3][4][5][6]
In 1973, it was bought by Groupe Danone.[2] Its TV commercials featured André Aubert as Don Patillo, a namesake for Don Camillo, made famous by Fernandel.[2]
In 1997, it was bought by Paribas Affaires Industrielles.[2] In 2002, it bought Lustucru, another French brand of pasta.[2]
In April 2005, it was bought by Ebro Foods.[2]
In 2013, a horse meat fraud was discovered in Panzani ravioli produced by William Saurin.[7]
At the end of 2021, it was acquired by CVC Capital Partners.[1]
References
- Ebro Foods sells Panzani businesses to CVC 26 July 2021^
- Official website, History retrieved 2012-11-14^
- James Gordon Bennett, Design Fundamentals for New Media, Cengage Learning, 16 Feb 2012, p. 261^
- Rena Sanderson, Hemingway's Italy: New Perspectives, Louisiana State University Press, 2006, p. 42^
- Stephen Bull, Photography, Taylor & Francis, 3 Feb 2010, p. 40^
- Terry Harpold, Ex-Foliations: Reading Machines and the Upgrade Path, University of Minnesota Press, 2009, p. 144^
- De la viande de cheval dans les raviolis Panzani fabriqués par William Saurin LSA, February 26, 2013, retrieved October 30, 2025^