Pernigotti returns to production. Nine months after the closure announcement by Turkish owner Tokzos, the work conducted by the Ministry of Labor and the professionals hired by ownership to save the famous 160-year-old Novi Ligure plant comes to a happy conclusion. Ensuring its future are two Italian companies. But the historical brand remains in Turkish hands.
Pernigotti, two Italian firms resume production
By September the operational details of the preliminary agreements already signed, which precisely provide for the relaunch of Pernigotti, will be finalized. The full operation of the plant-which has already resumed production ahead of the 2019 Christmas orders-and the reinstatement of all workers, about 100 or so, now on layoff, is assured as of now.
Chocolate production- gianduiotti, cremini and nougat-is taken over by the Turin-based social cooperative Spes. Which adheres to the Opera Torinese del Murialdo and is engaged in projects for the job placement of disadvantaged young people. Spes conducts 4 café-chocolate shops, Bistrot Etiko and a catering business.
The redevelopment plan submitted to the ministry on 6.8.19 assumes that a single corporate entity (a newco), participated by a state-funded company, will manage production. And the construction of a new plant in 3-5 years. Thus takes off the project to safeguard Pernigotti 1860, one of the historical brands of Made in Italy.
Instead, the ice cream preparations sector is taken over by Romagna entrepreneur Giordano Emendatori, the historical founder of Mec3 industry, one of the industry leaders. (1) The major expert in the industrial production of ice cream and pastry preparations acquires the ‘Pernigotti maestri gelatieri’ brand, with production scheduled to resume in October 2019.
The only sore point, the ‘Pernigotti’ brand remains the property of the Toksoz brothers, who took it over in 2013 and will continue to manage the marketing and distribution of the confectionery products.
Notes
(1) Mec3 was sold by Emendatori in 2014 to the U.S.-based Riverside Company and two years later taken over by the British fund Charterhouse Capital Partners. See in this regard the previous article
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
