The Summer Meeting organized in Rossano by the Union was a great success
On Saturday, June 22nd, the representatives of the Union were guests of one of its members, Amarelli (a family business based in Rossano, Cosenza) which since 1731 has made a name for itself in the production of licorice. The occasion was that of the Summer Meeting, that for the second time in the history of the association was held in southern Italy, also seeing the participation of a few over 100-year-old companies from Cosenza and the Calabria region.
The entrepreneurs Fortunato and Pina Amarelli did the honors, accompanying their guests to visit the production plant (where the licorice roots, chopped up by a special machine, pass through a series of very modern and computerized production phases, and where there is it is still – next to the “conca” – a “licorice master” checking the exact point of solidification) and then leading them, while recounting the company’s history in a very charming way, to discover the renovated “Giorgio Amarelli” Licorice Museum, the second most visited business museum in Italy, a true jewel of the entrepreneurial tradition created inside the ancient family home, a building dating back to the 1400s.
The entrepreneurs Fortunato and Pina Amarelli did the honors, accompanying their guests to visit the production plant (where the licorice roots, chopped up by a special machine, pass through a series of very modern and computerized production phases, and where there is it is still – next to the “conca” – a “licorice master” checking the exact point of solidification) and then leading them, while recounting the company’s history in a very charming way, to discover the renovated “Giorgio Amarelli” Licorice Museum, the second most visited business museum in Italy, a true jewel of the entrepreneurial tradition created inside the ancient family home, a building dating back to the 1400s.
“Nowadays, the role of Italian centenarian companies is fundamental” said Fortunato Amarelli, managing director of the company. “In an increasingly globalized and accelerated world, the history guarded and treasured by these brands becomes a formidable competitive advantage. It is an honor for us, today, to receive and welcome into our headquarters the representatives of other brands that have turned 100 or older. And it is a source of pride to be part of an entrepreneurial association that is the only one in Italy characterized by specific historical requirements. Today our representatives had the chance to visit an excellent example of historic business and a truly unique museum like Amarelli 1731,” added Iacopo Manetti, Vice-President of the Union. The association, which has been operating at a national level since 2012, is steadily growing also in southern Italy, joined by outstanding businesses rooted on their territory not only from a productive point of view, but also from an ethical and social point of view, two values that are an essential part of the Union’s mission”.
The Summer Meeting was also the occation to discuss the theme “The Union brand: collective brands as strategic marketing tools”. The focus was on the intervention of Prof. Aldo Presta (designer, communication consultant for Presta-lab.it and Head of the Visual Identity Office of the University of Calabria), who captivated the audience focusing on the identity values of the Italian centenarian brands, companies which, according to Presta, have an extraordinary reputation but also a 360 ° responsibility, because they address not only their final customers, but also the territory they belong to, social and environmental issues included. Also and above all, being part of the Union, an association exclusively made up of ultra-centenarian businesses,” added Presta “means not needing to keep up the guard, to constantly defend and revive the company’s honor and brand. In this sense, the collective brand becomes an added value for the corporate one, a way to identify itself in a postmodern universe where paths, not dogmas are needed, a world where companies often need to to adapt without losing their identity, where innovation is the true key to success and longevity. All of this represents a guarantee for the individual consumer – added Presta – is a burden of responsibility for those on the production side but a guarantee for those who see the brand on a product/service. It is an ethical pact, and our society is in dire need of ethical agreements. A collective brand like the Union’s one is a passe-partout for the wearer and a guarantee for those who read it”.
“A company goes down in history – said Fortunato Amarelli – when it enters the collective imagination. The brand becomes a way of telling who we are. We must begin to make the “historic business” brand, or rather the “over a century-old company” brand, known”.
