Our family business began in 1995 in Villar San Costanzo, at the foot of Maira Valley, in the province of Cuneo. The challenge was to propose a breakfast product with a hint of innovation and a new vision. Biscuits have always been on our home's table, all different and with creative names, but something was missing: an authentic taste. Going through the lists of ingredients, Fabrizio, together with his mother Bruna and his father Felice, realized that, although the differences among biscuit types, the ingredients were always the same.
The turning point comes when Fabrizio, through his grandmother Rita, discovers and tests stone (and water) grounded flour. Finally the biscuits acquired another gear: the taste of the cereal is alive, surprising, but above all good! This is why in 1996 it was decided to combine the activity of the biscuit factory with that of the mill.
Fabrizio learns the craft from Massimo Borgogno, owner of the mill of the same name for more than three generations, who with patience and passion infuses him with all the knowledge of a lifetime. Time passes quickly and so also the knowledge of the milling art.
At the beginning of the 2000s the biscuit factory grew, so it was decided to take the qualitative leap in search of a Mill. The historic “Mulino della Riviera”, in the center of Dronero, facing the Maira's Comella canal, is bought.
The decision to buy the “Mulino della Riviera” of Dronero has certainly been influenced by the charm of the ancient structure, but above all by its water operation, as it was once done.
After the '70s, the ancient mills, once fundamental activities, gradually ceased their activity, overwhelmed by the industrial products. For these latter, the comparison in terms of quantity and cost of production was impossible. The “Mulino della Riviera” is an artifact of great historical and architectural value, which witnesses the artisan history of our valleys and the peculiarities of its inhabitants.
As a family deeply tied to Maira valley, and more generally to the province of Cuneo, they understood that the mill had to be recovered and put back into operation, without the aim of comapring themselves with with industrial production. Rather, distinguishing themselves from it, by proposing a product of much higher quality, tied to traditions, to raw materials of the territory, to the peasant knowledge handed down from father to son.
Beyond the production aspect, they proudly carry out several initiatives for its enhancement, , along with disseminating the knowledge of ancient milling techniques and technical details allowing the mechanism to work.