Molisana pasta prepares for US shopping spree

'Double-digit growth in the Italian pasta market is impossible, the only frontier is abroad'. Giuseppe Ferro, managing director of Molisana, is so convinced of this that he has already chosen his destination: 'We have received proposals to open in America. Someone proposed that we set up a newco together, even with a minority share, someone else suggested an acquisition. And I am thinking about it'.

Thirteen years ago, the Ferro family didn't even make pasta. They were millers. And today the La Molisana brand is in the top five of Italian consumers' preferences, with a market share of 10.2%, on a par with Divella and De Cecco. Only Barilla, with 20.2%, does better. But if it is difficult to grow significantly in Italy, La Molisana is grinding out great numbers abroad: 'Sales outside Italy have increased by 33%,' says Ferro, 'we are doing very well in Europe, the United States and even South America. In Brazil we are growing in double figures. Our headquarters in Campobasso has now become a travel agency: today we have Armenian and Russian customers visiting, tomorrow the Canadians'.

Among the big players in the sector, only Barilla has taken the big step of going to produce abroad: 'For dry pasta,' says Ferro, 'the Parma-based multinational is to date the only real Italian competitor on international markets. In the USA Barilla has already opened, and the numbers have proved him right, in Russia instead it has had to stop. "Today I feel I am at a crossroads,' says Ferro, 'grow abroad, or increase production in Italy.

In spite of the latest investments, in fact, the Molise factory is beginning to feel cramped. And the credit also goes to wholemeal pasta: 'For this segment we have become the first brand in Italy,' admits Ferro, not without a certain pride, 'we have 19.4% of the national market. Wholemeal pasta is worth 10-12% of Molisana's company turnover, which has now reached 450 million euros.

And the price of pasta in the Italian trolley? 'It has fallen,' assures Ferro, 'by now the average volume price of private label pasta has dropped by 10%, that of brands like ours has dropped by 5%. Promotions have also returned to the supermarket shelves: our 500 gram packs of pasta have even gone down to 0.69 cents. These were prices we had not seen for a long time.