From Treviglio to Locride to lead a small family business that brought the little-known to the market spiny wild artichokes. It’s the story of Valentina Brizzi. She was born in Treviglio, she then moved to Approval, in Locride, where he lives with his family. He studied biomedical engineering at Sapienza University and then graduated from the Master’s Degree. She specializes in computer programming, she currently manages the company and works as a computer programmer in a multinational company.
Valentina’s father tells how the Brizzi company was born, Dominic, who cares deeply about the future of the small company. «The Brizzi company was born from an idea of Valentina who, together with us, father and mother Maria Cordì, took inspiration from an ancient tradition of Locride».
To those who ask why spiny wild artichokes, considering that it is very difficult to collect them due to the long thorns they exhibit and because it is a little-known product, Valentina replies that the motivation lies entirely in the fact that «we wanted to enhance a product that was slowly disappearing».
What is particularly valuable is that the Brizzi family has even learned to grow wild artichokes, given that they are few in nature and last about a month. «We immediately understood – says Domenico – that we had to cultivate them anyway, to avoid having problems with spontaneous harvests and to have an intact product».
We ask Valentina how the idea was received by the market. And who buys wild artichokes? «In Calabria they are known. Elsewhere not. So we had to first make them known and then appreciate them. They are purchased both by private individuals and by restaurants.”
Anyway the company also produces other things. Because it must be supported. «Yes, over the years, doing trade fairs and talking to the chefs we collaborate with, other products have been created».
The family is very close. And he divided the tasks. As Valentina states: «Right from the start we understood that for better organization we had to divide the tasks: Valentina, commercial supervision and accounting, Maria, laboratory, Domenico, fields and fairs».
Getting to Approved is not easy. The reality in which we operate is complex, the infrastructure is almost non-existent, and many municipalities in the area are experiencing complete depopulation. Obviously it is not at all easy to do business, in Locride as in all of Calabria. There are so many difficulties. As Sunday confirms: «The difficulties were access to credit and lack of manpower».
The Brizzi family has won the trust of highly regarded chefs, the wild artichokes are truly delicious. But now we look ahead. A very particular herbal tea is born. Which can be a winning idea. Also because it is particular, tasty and contains over 60-70% fibre. As Valentina confirms. «The first laboratory analysis gave very positive results, in-depth with a study on the wild artichoke from Calabria conducted at the Focuss Lab of the University of Reggio Calabria as part of the ValBioCard project».
Locride is becoming increasingly depopulated. Many small municipalities are suffering. Valentina has returned to Calabria. We imagine that it was not easy to work and produce in these conditions and in this reality. Valentina knows this, but she has a positive attitude: «We are trying to grow while maintaining a high level of quality in order to differentiate ourselves from others».
