At 8:30 am the enthusiasm was already palpable in the courtyard of the historic OCRIM, which last 26 October enjoyed the sixth edition of its “Wheat, Flour and …” event. Just like every year, many clients and friends from all over the world visited Cremona to experience an “annual” event, knowing they were to participate in something new, something that would have accompanied them back home with new knowledge and ever more convinced to have chosen a reliable, innovative and farsighted partner.
Engineer Alberto Antolini, CEO at OCRIM, welcomed the audience seated in the conference room of the company, by emphasising the corporate commitment for all the guests, and even those that were not present, to always rely on a company willing to accept challenges, a company that is always ready to innovate and undertake new routes. The floor was then passed on to Stefano Mazzini, Sales Director at OCRIM, who explained how the Cremona-based company is committed to being a complete partner and not only an engineering company, after having established a partnership with Bonifiche Ferraresi, thereby undertaking a route which fully involves the Italian industry – a route that travels from the soil and raw material (wheat) to the consumer’s table.
The day proceeded with the technical conference “Stone mills and alternative flours: nutritional pros and cons and food trends” chaired by Lorenzo Cavalli (Chairman of Associazione Nazionale Tecnici Industria Molitoria [National Technical Association of Flour Milling Industry]) and presided over by chaired by experts in the milling, agricultural and medical sectors: Stefano Ravaglia (Head of Research and Development at Società Italiana Sementi – SIS) Marco Galli (Head of the Technological Department at OCRIM); Alberto Figna (Owner of Molini Agugiaro & Figna di Parma); Filippo Drago (Owner of Molini Del Ponte); Simona Digiuni (agricultural biotechnologist with international experience in plant research); Marco Tesini (Specialised nutritionist in Food Science).
The conference immediately attracted great interest for the subject matter as well as the exhibitions and the speeches presented by the participants. Listening to different points of view, based on a specific sector and individual skills was constructive and even “intriguing” because each of the speakers gave their own view in a concrete and direct manner. Therefore, there was an actual exchange of opinions and fields, discussions which were positively enlightened with the pros and cons of the flours produced with stone mills or cylinder mills. Common ground was found on the importance of the raw material – the wheat. According to the experts, the upstream check of the raw material must be thorough and carried out with total transparency. Subsequently, the product must be treated with care through advanced technologies to be prepared for the next step, to obtain top quality flour regardless of the type of milling system it will be intended for.
Following the conference, the guests moved on to the assembly department of the company, where lunch was served in line with the content and principles of the day: a table was artistically prepared with products from the Italian agri-food excellence, whose influential representatives attended the afternoon conference “Italian Food DNA”.
At 2:15 pm the conference room of OCRIM had started looking like a film set. The whole team of the Cremona company and the many guests were anxiously waiting for the connection with the conference room of the Hilton hotel of Addis Ababa where, simultaneously, the twin conference was being held on Italian excellencies and entitled “Italian Food DNA – High quality production for the growth of agricultural sector and customer health”.
For the first time, and in an official manner, OCRIM has appeared to the world as an essential part of the Food supply chain and not any longer as a partner strictly connected with the engineering industry. The partnership with Bonifiche Ferraresi S.p.A., the largest agricultural company in Italy, has sealed the important step that has allowed OCRIM to undertake a complex journey fraught with challenges. Alberto Antolini, C.E.O. of OCRIM, with his welcome address, explains that the aim of this important choice is to stand as a comprehensive and thorough partner, aware of the importance of the control and management of the raw material, wheat, to be processed exactly by the machines produced by it, before reaching consumers’ tables. Alberto Antolini then introduced, to all attendees, the person who will travel the supply chain with him, Federico Vecchioni, CEO of Bonifiche Ferraresi.
Both in Cremona and Addis Ababa, many political and economic personalities expressed their appreciation and admiration for a company that is always ready to innovate and putting itself at stake. In particular, Vincenzo Gesmundo, General Secretary of Coldiretti and Hon. Paolo De Castro (European Parliament), congratulated the representatives of all companies at the Cremona conference hall, for bringing about the “Italian success” worldwide. Mebrahtu Meles, Vice Minister for Industry – Ethiopia, and Giuseppe Mistretta, Italian Ambassador in Ethiopia were among the many notable personalities who spoke from Addis Ababa. They both underlined OCRIM’s commitment to constructing in Africa and in particular in Ethiopia, and how a number of Italians have set up their business and contributed to improving and diversifying the economy of a country so rich in resources.
The Addis Ababa conference was concluded with the “I Capitani Dell’Anno” awards, which for the first time took place outside Italy’s national borders. Sergio Antolini, Vice President of OCRIM, and Fabio Raffaelli, President of the Jury, awarded each of the major representatives of Ethiopian business attending the event, at the presence of the highest offices and authorities from the political, economic and diplomatic spheres in Ethiopia.
Alessandro Milan, famous journalist of Radio 24, moderated the leading members of the round table of Cremona as well as interaction with the Addis Ababa conference, which was moderated by Alfredo Tesio (Foreign Press Association), Matteo Pianca (in charge of the economy and trade office of the Italian embassy in Ethiopia) and Genene Gezu (AICS Addis Ababa).
The sixth edition of “Wheat, Flour and…” therefore set off with a morning strictly dedicated to technical issues of the milling sector, and ended with an afternoon event dealing with the new experiences undertaken by OCRIM. In this way and during a single day, the historic Cremona company made it clear it is ready and open to new interesting challenges, always remaining in touch with its core skills and aware of its origins and traditions.
