EXPO 2015 PADIGLIONE ITALIA

The Casalasco Tomato Consortium will have a dual role during the universal exposition to be held in Milan from May to October 2015: it will represent the entire Italian tomato supply chain within the Coldiretti area of the Italy Pavilion and, with its own brand Pomì, it will participate in the Tree of Life showcasing the core values underpinning its operations: Made in Italy quality, certified sustainability, and well-being for people and the local area.

“Expo 2015 is a unique opportunity, especially for a company like ours that operates in international markets today, but is rooted in the local area, to share what goes into our work, the story of the people who produce our products. – comments Costantino Vaia, General Manager of the Consortium - Italy, which is one of the world's leading producers of processing tomatoes, generates a turnover of approximately three billion euros, with over 56% destined for export. This demonstrates how relevant this sector, perhaps too often overlooked, is for our economy. I therefore believe that Expo, and the Tree of Life in particular, are effective tools for achieving this goal.”.

The Casalasco Tomato Consortium, with a turnover of over 200 million euros, brings together more than 300 farms, located between Parma, Piacenza, Cremona, and Mantua which grow tomatoes on approximately 4,500 hectares of land for a total production of 350,000 tons of fresh tomatoes, and has created a true integrated system supply chain, maintaining a strong connection with the local area. The raw material is processed immediately after harvesting in facilities adjacent to the cultivation fields, following a short path from field to table. A short and certified supply chain at every stage ensures the highest quality and traceability of the raw material, from seed to finished product. With Pomì, a historic, 100% Italian brand owned by the company, Italian tomato passata reaches over 50 countries worldwide: in fact, more than 60% of Pomì and Pomito branded production is destined for foreign markets in Europe, North and Central America, Africa, and Asia (Middle and Far East).

The Consorzio Casalasco applies regulations for integrated agriculture that respects biodiversity and has recently launched a field monitoring project using smart drones – Pomì in Quota – which distribute the correct amount of water and nutrients to each area of the fields for balanced crop growth, improving the qualitative characteristics of the harvest, preserving the environment from unnecessary excesses, and simultaneously limiting superfluous costs. Finally, Pomì's brick packaging is certified with the FSC label (Forest Stewardship Council) which identifies paper sourced from forests managed according to strict environmental, social, and economic standards.
Furthermore, with its Pomì L+ passata, Pomì has joined the project by the Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea to define the Carbon Footprint of the product's entire life cycle (in accordance with ISO 14067:2013) and participated in the voluntary market for offsetting CO2 emissions, supporting an important energy efficiency project for rural communities in Siaya County: Cookstove for Kenya.
Pomì contributes to the intervention plan in rural households for the creation and installation of cookstoves. This is a substitute for the traditional method, known as the "three-stone fire," which involves using open fires fueled by virgin biomass or charcoal, producing toxic fumes that create serious health problems for residents in rural areas of Kenya.
The Cookstove project's stoves reduce the biomass used for cooking by 48%, thereby decreasing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, improving air quality, and reducing associated diseases. In addition to environmental benefits, the initiative also has a positive social impact: thanks to the use of these stoves, there is a substantial reduction in the workload for women and children, who can significantly limit the amount of firewood to collect, and a considerable decrease in the cost incurred by families for purchasing charcoal.

All of this, together, in a single brand that has always brought the authentic taste of Italian passata and tomatoes around the world.