Barilla is an Italian food production group, leader in the markets for pasta worldwide, for ready-made sauces in Europe, for bakery products in Italy and for crisp breads in Scandinavia. The Group employs over 8,000 people and owns 30 production sites and 13 brands: Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi, Gran Cereale, Pan di Stelle, Wasa, Harry’s (France and Russia), Academia Barilla, Misko (Greece), Filiz (Turkey), Yemina and Vesta (Mexico). Barilla produces a wide range of bakery products covering almost 180 products resulting from 35 different production technologies. These are: Biscuits, Toasted bread, Cereals, Snacks, Pastries, Soft bread, Brioches and power snacks, Cakes and crisp bread. Many of these products are naturally leavened using sourdough fermentation, among which it is worth to mention a product range named Surdeg (sourdough) commercialized under the brand Wasa. Sourdough fermentation, as a mean to enhance microbial biodiversity will be one of the areas covered by the project. Barilla is strongly committed to face sustainability issues, including biodiversity: the CEO and the Corporate Top Management are in charge of reviewing and approving objectives and strategic projects, as well as of regularly assessing key indicators, monitored and controlled by the “Good for You, Good for the Planet” Steering Committee.
The headquarters Group Research Development and Quality (GRDQ), that are involved in INGREEN, are located in Parma, employing about 200 people of which about 60% graduates. An area of about 9.000 square meters area hosts several facilities supporting R&D activities on raw materials and finished products, such as are chemical, physical, microbiological and sensory laboratories. Their pilot plants produce flours, pasta, sauces and bakery products.
Role in INGREEN
- Proving different fractions of the durum wheat milling and rye bran and will validate in bakery products the solutions that will be developed by the project
- Defining the characteristics and pre-treatment of rye and wheat milling co-products.
- Contributing to the production of bakery products, in pilot plant facilities, for screening purposes
- Validation of final bakery solutions
