"My grandfather was fluent in three languages and had studied in Switzerland, so he immediately started working with foreign markets. I started working for the company in the 1960s, when we used to work with ten destinations. Now we work with thirty markets."
Gruppo Besana in fact works with Germany, Austria, Belgium, Scandinavia and Switzerland as well as the rest of the EU, the Mediterranean basin, the US, the Far East and beyond. "We conquered the global markets ten years before the rest."
Gruppo Besana recently celebrated its 94th anniversary
A different production scenario
In the early 1900s, Italy was the leading nut producer worldwide (60 thousand tons of walnuts, 70 thousand of almonds and 35 thousand of hazelnuts), but the Europeans and Armenians who emigrated to California started the industry overseas. In the meantime, Sicily and Apulia replaced their almond, walnut and chestnut productions with citrus and olive groves and vineyards.
"Spain too started investing in almond trees and went from being a small competitor to producing our same volumes. France became just as important for chestnuts and walnuts. It must be said though that all producer countries have also become great consumers - Turkey, for example, absorbs a lot of its walnut, hazelnut and sultana production. The same is happening in China and India."
The diversification of production areas proceeded at the same speed of globalisation - nowadays, Gruppo Besana imports produce from 28 countries worldwide, but the confectionery industry is pushing to plant hazelnut and walnut orchards in different areas from the main producer countries (i.e. California for almonds and Turkey for hazelnuts). "The most promising ones are South America and North-western Africa for almonds and Chile, Argentina, South Africa and Eastern Europe for hazelnuts."
A business with excellent perspectives
There is still room to grow as the potential is great - " India, Pakistan, Philippines, China, Indonesia... we are talking about 3.10 billion people. Nut consumption is around 10% and an increase to 15% would be enough to surpass the number of European consumers. And it looks like that is exactly what is happening."
Gruppo Besana is also committed to innovation - it was the first to implement mechanical shelling, almond peeling, hazelnut roasting and the transformation of hazelnuts into paste. More recently, the company made investments in pasteurization, fumigation and modified atmosphere packaging plants. "We were the first to import Gojiberries and we also have a Nut Free facility for dried fruit."
"We always managed to stand out even for what concerns packaging. In the 1980s, we were the first to introduce nut and dried fruit mixes, as we noticed customers would buy both and mix them. Currently, we have 750 different items personalised according to our customers' preferences. We have been supplying Scandinavian coops for 85 years and Marks&Spencer for 75, which I believe accounts for our professionalism. Diversification is one of our strengths, but not the only one."
The chairman talks about two factors that contributed to the success of the company: 1) work ethic, which can be seen with the relationship of mutual trust we have with our producers and employees ("we have had four generations of the same family working for us") and 2) the fact that they managed to "comr out of their shell" and look for consumers all over the world.
The public role of the company
Pino Calcagni was appointed to many roles at a national and international level (former president of Aeioa (Fruitimprese), former president of Freshfel Europe, current president of the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council-INC).
"I was pushed by the fact that I was very curious and willing to take on roles of great responsibility, as I believe that social commitment leads to growth. I believed I could bring something to the industry and was able to talk even to my competitors to reach common goals. Nowadays, you will not go anywhere if you do not work as a team. Even bilateral business negotiations need a long-term vision, as demonstrated by the US policy towards interesting markets such as the Chinese one. Agricultural issues are often part of the agenda of Presidents like Obama or Holland. Italy should take note."
Contacts:
Besana spa
Via Ferrovia, 210
80040 S. Gennaro Vesuviano (NA)
Tel.: (+39) 081 8659317
Fax: (+39) 081 8657651
Email: info@besanagroup.com
Web: www.besanaworld.com