1890 – 1906
PIETRO GENTILINI:
VERGATO, AMERICA, ROME
Pietro Gentilini, the founder, was born in 1856 in Vergato, a small town situated in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.
Having worked from a very young age as an apprentice in Florence and Bologna, he went to work in Latin America, gaining a wealth of experience and skills which would serve him well on his return home.
Pietro returned to Italy to realise his most ambitious dream: start his own business in Rome, the Capital of the Kingdom and of consumption.
The Guida Monaci of 1890 states that Pietro in those years managed a grocery shop with a bakery, over three street numbers, situated in one of the most populated areas of the city, Esquilino. In just a few years, he had four shops.
Pietro baked a wide range of biscuits, including Osvego: a fragrant and scented biscuit. He began with an Anglo-Saxon biscuit called Oswego, adapting it to Italian taste with simple, yet excellent quality ingredients such as flour, butter, malt and honey, slow cooking it and then putting it in tin boxes while still hot.
1906-1940
THE INDUSTRIAL LEAP:
THE BISCOTTI GENTILINI
PLANT IN VIA NOVARA
1906, the year marked Pietro’s move to industrialise the processes. That year, he opened his first production plant in Via Novara, just a few yards from Porta Pia.
In 1911, Pietro Gentilini was appointed Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy, an acknowledgement for those distinguished in their particular field of work. That same year, Ettore was born, who would lead the company after Pietro.
Around that period too, a wide variety of products were being produced: thirty-four types, to be precise, as well as typical festive desserts, such as Panettone, Torrone, Easter desserts and the local speciality Delizia Romana. Gentilini placed its first advertisement on 15th December 1922 for its Christmas products with a piece in «Il Piccolo – Giornale d’Italia» newspaper.
1906, the year marked Pietro’s move to industrialise the processes. That year, he opened his first production plant in Via Novara, just a few yards from Porta Pia.
In 1911, Pietro Gentilini was appointed Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy, an acknowledgement for those distinguished in their particular field of work. That same year, Ettore was born, who would lead the company after Pietro.
Around that period too, a wide variety of products were being produced: thirty-four types, to be precise, as well as typical festive desserts, such as Panettone, Torrone, Easter desserts and the local speciality Delizia Romana. Gentilini placed its first advertisement on 15th December 1922 for its Christmas products with a piece in «Il Piccolo – Giornale d’Italia» newspaper.
At the start of the twentieth century, Gentilini’s train arrived, and only officially patented in 1915. The image of the train gave Gentilini products a cosmopolitan charm – also given the names of the European capitals on the biscuits – creating associations of virtuous thought with new worlds and at the same time confirming man’s faith in progress, science, technique and their applications in industry.
At the start of the twentieth century, Gentilini’s train arrived, and only officially patented in 1915. The image of the train gave Gentilini products a cosmopolitan charm – also given the names of the European capitals on the biscuits – creating associations of virtuous thought with new worlds and at the same time confirming man’s faith in progress, science, technique and their applications in industry.
1940-1958
THE WAR AND
ETTORE'S EARLY LIFE
Italy was at war and Pietro and Matilde left Vergato, leaving the company in their children’s hands, even if the plant was seized by the allied command and declared an auxiliary plant for wartime production.
Business only returned to normal in 1948.
Ettore, the youngest of Pietro’s eight children, was released from imprisonment in 1946 and took the helm of the company. Recovery was very quick, thanks to the strong ties between Gentilini products and its public, a trusted relationship created over the decades by Pietro.
Within a few years, the number of employees went from 15 to 40.
The Margherite biscuit was first made around this time, a biscuit still in production today, with its machines designed, patented and manufactured personally by Ettore.
Italy was at war and Pietro and Matilde left Vergato, leaving the company in their children’s hands, even if the plant was seized by the allied command and declared an auxiliary plant for wartime production.
Business only returned to normal in 1948.
Ettore, the youngest of Pietro’s eight children, was released from imprisonment in 1946 and took the helm of the company. Recovery was very quick, thanks to the strong ties between Gentilini products and its public, a trusted relationship created over the decades by Pietro.
Within a few years, the number of employees went from 15 to 40.
The Margherite biscuit was first made around this time, a biscuit still in production today, with its machines designed, patented and manufactured personally by Ettore.
Small grocery shops were the main distribution channel of Gentilini biscuits, sold loose, by weight or by tin box.
The Fifties were characterised by a passion to reconquer and rebuild, so much so, mid-way through the Fifties, the company had to move its business to a new and bigger plant.
1958-1998
FROM ETTORE TO PAOLO GENTILINI
The new production plant was inaugurated in 1958 in Via Tiburtina in Rome, and receipt of a prestigious award for loyalty to work and economic progress launched Gentilini into the decade of financial boom.
In the Sixties, with the opening and development of the first supermarkets, the company replaced the traditional tin boxes, which were returnable containers, with paper and polyethylene packaging.
Despite the Seventies proving difficult for the Italian economy, company turnover continued to grow: in Rome alone, there were 6,500 businesses selling Gentilini biscuits.
The distinguishing element was the high quality of the products due to careful selection of the raw materials.
In 1975, the company had 134 staff.
The new production plant was inaugurated in 1958 in Via Tiburtina in Rome, and receipt of a prestigious award for loyalty to work and economic progress launched Gentilini into the decade of financial boom.
In the Sixties, with the opening and development of the first supermarkets, the company replaced the traditional tin boxes, which were returnable containers, with paper and polyethylene packaging.
Despite the Seventies proving difficult for the Italian economy, company turnover continued to grow: in Rome alone, there were 6,500 businesses selling Gentilini biscuits.
The distinguishing element was the high quality of the products due to careful selection of the raw materials.
In 1975, the company had 134 staff.
The Eighties brought important modernisation of the systems and as early as 1985 the company starts producing biscuits and rusks made using whole wheat flour. Product innovations included the introduction of the new 250 g stick packaging and restyling of the company image.
Paolo Gentilini, the current Chairman and CEO, in the company since 1977, was appointed Chairman in 1998 of Fabbrica Biscotti P. Gentilini.
1998 – 2020
HUGE CHALLENGES OF THE THIRD MILLENIUM
The company faced 2000 with an important passage to achieve: transformation of a virtuous, family-run production enterprise into a modern company.
In his first twenty years as Chair, Paolo continued to invest in systems and reorganisation of the internal structures.
The company faced 2000 with an important passage to achieve: transformation of a virtuous, family-run production enterprise into a modern company.
In his first twenty years as Chair, Paolo continued to invest in systems and reorganisation of the internal structures.
Having standardised the graphics of all its products, 2009 saw Gentilini’s first television advertisement, with a calm and gentle approach, in typical Gentilini style. Since then, attention to advertising has always been important, so much so it received the important Key Award in 2014 for best animated advert.
In 2020, Gentilini celebrates its 130th anniversary and, backed by its history and experience, the company is ready to face the next challenges of pleasurable taste.