De Cecco pasta and flour

The Italian company De Cecco

Over a hundred years ago, in Abruzzo, a story begins that, like any great company, is made up of people and passions. It is the story of the mill and the pasta factory of the De Cecco brothers. For more than 130 years, they have been making pasta that is synonymous with quality and enjoyment around the world.
This story has its origin in the events before the unification of Italy, when in Fara San Martino, a small village at the foot of the Majelle, don Nicola De Cecco produced the best flour in the area in his stone mill.

As has been the case for generations, Zi Nicola passed on his art and passion to his son Filippo Giovanni, who began a new chapter in the history of the De Cecco family by starting pasta production: this is how the De Cecco brothers` mill and pasta factory were born. In 1886.
The best flour in the area starts here on its long journey, at the end of which it becomes pasta of a higher quality.
By combining ancient artisanal experiences with mechanical intuitions, don Filippo Giovanni De Cecco realizes a new low-temperature drying plant, going beyond the limit that made pasta production dependent on weather conditions.

Up until then, the pasta had always been dried in the sun, the only way to guarantee the product`s high quality and durability. Thanks to this wise intuition, new markets opened up for De Cecco, beginning the internationalization of the company.
In 1908 the Abruzzo peasant girl with the sheaves of wheat became the symbol of the company. After the Second World War, the phase of growth begins, with which De Cecco reaches its current expansion: the factory, destroyed by the German bombing, is rebuilt and starts production again, increasingly oriented towards the international market.
To support this strong growth in production, the Pescara pasta factory was inaugurated in the 1950s, able to support the increase in production of those years. In 1980 a new and modern production unit with doubled capacity was inaugurated in Fara San Martino, while in 1985 the company, in order to meet the new market requirements, prepared itself for the essential step of creating its own sales network.

Another important stage is the creation of the Società Olearia in 1986, the first step towards a fundamental product differentiation that will spread further in 1993.

The nineties are the years of big investments: the new Fara San Martino mill is built, characterized by a daily processing capacity of 11000 quintals of wheat; In 1997 the Ortona plant was born, an example of modernity and the most advanced technology at the service of the ancient pasta tradition.

A lot has changed over time: today the De Cecco brand is synonymous with quality in the wheat semolina pasta industry

De Cecco pasta

De Cecco drying according to old family tradition

Drying has always been considered the most crucial and difficult phase of the pasta production process, which has a decisive influence on its quality. For this reason, De Cecco continues to focus on slow drying at low temperatures, applying the same principles as its founder Filippo De Cecco, who was included in the Treccani Encyclopedia in 1889 as the inventor of this revolutionary hot air drying system. Recent studies on pasta on the market have shown that De Cecco pasta made from durum wheat semolina does not show the effects of high temperatures, which lead to a deterioration in quality and organoleptic properties. The slow drying at low temperature favors the development of flavors that give the pasta its characteristic flavor and the typical yellow color of the semolina, ensuring an excellent cooking resistance: this is how we can speak of HIGHEST QUALITY. The stamp on the packaging contains the drying hours certified by DNV, which range from 9 hours for short pasta to 18 hours for long pasta and up to 36 hours for long tubular pasta, depending on the format. In terms of transparency of information, De Cecco believes that it is important not to deprive consumers of this data, which is crucial for making an informed choice.

De Cecco pasta