PizzAut will also become PastAut, with Barilla pasta

From 2026 PizzAut restaurants will also become PastAut, serving pasta dishes prepared with Barilla pasta. The agreement, announced on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December), envisages the donation of professional equipment for the preparation and service of pasta and the training of autistic children by the chefs of Academia Barilla, who will be at the children's side in the kitchen.

"Our path with PizzAut represents for us much more than a collaboration: it is a concrete and continuous commitment to build a model of inclusion able to support people and families who live with disabilities every day - says Fabrizio Vago, 'daddy Aut' and Sales District Manager Food Service of Barilla - With PastAut we want to take a further step, creating a replicable project in which professional training of excellence and structured work opportunities can offer young people with autism new tools to express their talent. The direct hiring of a young man with autism, who will work at PizzAut with a Barilla contract, is a tangible sign of the direction we want to follow".

"PastAut is the natural evolution of the path we are pursuing with Barilla to build a more inclusive world,' adds Nico Acampora, founder of PizzAut. 'Offering our young people new skills and new job opportunities means giving them autonomy, dignity and a future. PastAut is not just a new dish on the menu: it is a step towards a society that recognises the value of everyone'.

"Starting from 2026, Barilla pasta will permanently enter the menu of the two restaurants in Cassina de' Pecchi and Monza, where autistic children will be able to acquire new professional skills in the preparation and service of first courses. The training - they communicate from Parma - will start in the coming weeks and will be supervised by Academia Barilla chefs. Moreover, to confirm the joint commitment of Barilla and PizzAut for the employment inclusion of autistic people, a young man with autism will join the PizzAut team with a Barilla employment contract that will become effective by the end of the year, working on secondment at the restaurant in Monza'.

The partnership with PizzAut is part of the broader Diversity & Inclusion path that Barilla has been following for some years now: "In the Group there are 17 Employee Resource Groups all over the world, involving about 2 thousand employees. These are voluntary groups organised, led and trained by Barilla people with the aim of promoting an even more inclusive corporate culture and stimulating change within the company. Among these is ThisAbility, the programme dedicated to enhancing the talents of people with disabilities, awarded the Aretè Prize 2023".