The story of Sammontana talks about Italian quality. Sammontana was born from a dream of Renzo Bagnoli’s, who, in 1948, decided to turn his father's milk-shop in an artisan workshop for producing ice-cream. In the following years, together with Sergio and Loriano, Renzo’s brothers, the little workshop expanded and became an industrial company which soon allowed knowing throughout Italy, and even outside the national borders, the taste of Italian ice cream.
Today Sammontana, whose premises are at Empoli, is completely managed by the family who owns it: Loriano Bagnoli, his son Leonardo, and Marco Bagnoli, Renzo’s heir. Many products have set the success of Sammontana in all these years: from the classic ‘Barattolino’, the first take away product for home consumption born in the 60s, to ‘Stecco Ducale’, an extruded chocolate-coated ice-cream launched in 1988; from ‘Coppa Oro’, characterized by the typical meringues on the bottom of the ice cream, to the ‘Cinque Stelle’, a range of ice-cream cones in different flavours and creams in manifold variegations.
The ‘Barattolino’ and the ‘Cinque Stelle’ line
The ‘Cinque Stelle’ line is certainly among the most popular ones in the bar channel, as well as in large-scale retail trade. In the most complex variants of taste, the ice-cream cone has a variegation both on the surface and inside, a feature particularly appreciated by the consumers. The ‘Croccantino’, a vanilla enriched with pieces of almond brittle, is the historic taste and the symbol of this line.
On the other hand, the main ‘character’ in the large-scale retail trade is the ‘Barattolino’ in the g 500 size, which is proposed in two versions: the traditional one, which collects the simple tastes of ice-cream tradition, for consumers who appreciate ice-cream in its purity, and the ‘transparent’ version, characterized by more tasty recipes and by the presence of both enrichments and variegations which give a charming look to this ice-cream.
All products are subjected to quality control, from the traditional ones to the specific ones for coeliacs (recognizable thanks to a symbol which represents a crossed spike), to the line of frozen croissants, of which the company is a leader in Italy with its brands the ‘Tre Marie’ and ‘Il Pasticcere’.
Since 1997 Sammontana has aligned its system to the requirements of the main international rules and reference standards for the sanitary aspects, quality, and organization, such as ISO 9001, BRC, and IFS.
Leonardo Bagnoli says: «The careful selection of raw materials and the experience of over seventy years in the production of ice-cream desserts allow our products being characterized by a unique and authentic taste. The Italian style of our company is a further guarantee of quality. The family management is important: my goal has always been to increase our company’s value in the long term and one day to deliver to my son, who is now 5 year old, and the other young nephews and cousins, a reality which will be worth more than it is worth today. A refined thought and a hard work have been the elements for our success, and we will continue to need both of them, because of the internationalization as well as the strengthening of the domestic market. For the future, we will continue pursuing the values of the Italian taste, the quality of raw materials, and the quality controls, because we are aware that only the quality of our products will make us stronger and stronger, in Italy as well as abroad. In addition, we are and will be always eager first of all to improve ourselves: if we improve ourselves first of all, the company itself will grow». The strength of innovation
Sammontana’s production, which has always been oriented to the Italian market, in recent years has begun to enter such foreign markets as Germany, Malta, Romania, Greece, Austria, and Switzerland. The owners specify: «In these Countries we are present mainly in the large-scale retail trade and, to a lesser extent, in the HoReCA channel. Our advantage is given by innovation: in the foreign market we receive buyers’ preferences because they are attracted by the unique characteristics of our products. For example, the internal variegation of the ‘Cinque Stelle’ ice-cream cones, or some products characterized by a playful and fun shape, such as the ‘Steccoblocco’, are very appreciated. In all our ice creams, taste and experience meet with modernity and innovation. The products which meet with the most important success are certainly the ‘Cinque Stelle’ ice-cream cone and the ‘Sorbettiera, the large format of the ‘Barattolino’, in a transparent 1 kg pack, where the beauty of the ice cream is the best communication. In such a market as our one, in fact, where purchases are often made on impulse, packaging plays a crucial role in the difficult task of encouraging and obtaining consumer’s preference».
The union of Tuscan excellences: Sammontana and Amedei
