From Apulia to the world through research: Vito Mezzina recounts Casillo Group’s commitment to enhancing Italian excellence through high-quality flours. Between ties to the territory and international challenges, “Altograno,” the project aiming at the food of the future, is born.
Casillo has a strong presence and is very rooted in southern Italy. How important is it for you to maintain the connection with the territory and how do you communicate this in international markets such as the U.S.?
The company was born in Puglia, in the province of Bari. We are the region of wheat, the granary of Italy, and precisely because of this, our connection with the territory cannot but be very strong, because it is what we derive special characteristics from at the level of wheat production, from the sun to the earth. However, we are also projected into the whole world, we are present in 5 continents in an increasingly capillary way, exporting Apulian and Italian excellence in the world, in our case flours for pizzerias and bakeries and semolina for pasta making. These are all high-quality products that, thanks to the know-how, experience and hard work in Italy, put us among the world’s top excellences. Anyone in America today who wants to make a quality pizza sure has to buy an Italian product.
What distinctive features do you offer to meet the needs of food service professionals?
Flours have to be targeted according to the customer’s use of them, and there are specific lines for that. We are working hard to extract the best parts of the grain, which are the ones that are decisive in making the quality product. Our work, more and more, day by day focuses on Research and Development, which is the beating heart of our company.
What are the latest innovations to meet the growing demand for healthier foods?
We are very focused on R&D, we have a dedicated team and company studying for the creation today of the food of the future. We like to extract all the goodness of wheat, which is what we want to bring to the tables. Recently, after years of study and work with 10 Italian universities, “Altograno” was born, a new category of flour that manages to combine all the best qualities of wheat by extracting the parts richest in fiber and protein. We have put together excellent taste with organoleptic and nutritional qualities unparalleled in the industry.
The article “All the goodness of wheat”: innovation according to Vito Mezzina comes from TheNewyorkese.