Pernigotti is one of the oldest and most traditional manufacturers of chocolate products, nougats, and Easter eggs in Italy, and its history of passion, dedication, and entrepreneurial vision is at the base of its success. For over 150 years, Italians have enjoyed the company’s products and so much that they identify nougat with the Pernigotti logo.
It all begins in 1860 when Stefano Pernigotti opens a grocery store in the market square in Novi Ligure (Alessandria) that becomes famous for the production of a delicious nougat. To meet the requests of the many customers lining out of the store the industrious Stefano enlarges the company and, in 1868, he founds, with his son Francesco, the “Stefano Pernigotti & Figlio”, a company specializing in confectionery production. Their chocolate delicacies become even more popular when the company is nominated as an official supplier of the Italian Royal family and when, in 1882, King Umberto I grants Pernigotti the power to raise the royal coat of arms on the factory’s banner and company logo, where it remained until 2004. When imports of sugar are blocked due to WWI, Francesco has a brilliant intuition that turns an obstacle into an opportunity replacing it with honey, which further improves the nougat’s taste and consistency.
In 1927, Pernigotti begins the industrial production of Gianduiotto, the hazelnuts based chocolates that becomes another flagship product. The company keeps on growing and collecting success, however, in 1944 a bomb destroys the factory. The reconstruction in a former military warehouses offers opportunities for expansion and Pernigotti adds new products to its range. In 1980, Francesco’s grandson, Stefano, who had lost his two young sons in a car accident, sells the family business to the Averna family, from which, in 2013, is bought by the current owner of the brand, the Turkish group Toksoz.
Recently Toksoz announced the closure of the historic Novi Ligure plant, but in a note, it reassured Pernigotti’s customers that they intend to maintain the production in Italy with the support of Italian partners capable of guaranteeing the high quality that has characterized Pernigotti’s products since the company’s early stages.
Ilona Catani Scarlett