Barilla Group

A. The main facts about the activities of the company.

Founded in 1877, Barilla ranks as one of today’s top Italian food groups. Employing more than 14,000 people and accounting for more than euro 3.9 billion net sales in 2011, it is a leader in the global pasta business, in pasta sauces business in continental Europe, in bakery products business in Italy and crispbread business in Scandinavia.

Barilla is the Italian Family Company that believes food is a joyful convivial experience, taste and a form of sharing and caring.

Managed by one family’s entrepreneurial experience for over 130 years, Barilla became popular worldwide due to its attention to the quality of its products, the result of significant investments in research, innovation and technology, as well as communication.

Barilla exports to more than 100 countries, under the brands Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi, Wasa, Harry’s (France and Russia), Lieken Urkorn and Golden Toast (Germany), Academia Barilla, Misko (Greece), Filiz (Turkey), Yemina and Vesta (Mexico).

B. The Ethical challenges this company is addressing.

As a big food company, Barilla has often needs to choose between profits and social responsibility. Here are some typical ethical dilemmas which Barilla solved giving a priority to ethics rather than to business.

1. High quality vs. less costs
For food companies, offering good quality food accounts for one of the most important responsibilities. However, in order to cut costs, many companies still offer scarse quality food. Barilla never compromised. The quality of each Barilla product is the result of employing superior raw materials, avant-garde production processes, long-term relations with retailers and relationships of trust with people.
For instance, let’s consider the sustainable supply chain. Unlike the classical linear structure with a cascade sequence of supply chain operators, the Barilla model is of circular shape, so as to involve the various players with collaboration projects: from the production of raw materials to projects with customers and the relationship with people. This obviously helps Barilla enhance the quality of its products, but also increases the costs.

2. Being liars vs. honest to consumers
Consumer loyalty is critical to reach sustainable profits over time. To boost sales, many food companies use special additives to make their products more attractive, tasty or to make people consume more often. Although the quantities are strictly controlled, there are still some risks. Because most consumers have little knowledge about additives, and only search for delicious food, many companies make use of chemicals to increase customer loyalty, at the expense of the naturality and goodness of the product. Barilla assures its new products are all additive free.

Barilla uses two main methods to build and mantain consumer loyalty. First, it invests a lot in R&D and martketing research to innovate and create new products, designed to meet specific customers’ needs. Despite its growing success, the company keeps challenging itself. Every year, 50 new products are launched while existing products see their formulation modified to reach outstanding nutritional standards. Second, the food company shares its nutritional knowledge with the parents. Barilla promotes many “Barilla Kitchens”, where parents can learn how to cook from a varied healthy diet. These things, among others, usually make people familiar with the brand, trust the brand. Barilla uses ethical methods to make profits.

3. Environmentally friendly package vs. higher costs
Packaging wastes always harm the environment. Environmental friendly package materials are more expensive than common ones. Although many companies choose common ones and increase efficiency, Barilla insists on designing its packages as environmentally friendly. It has also developed an analysis of the entire life cycle of a packaging to verify its environmental impact and consider possible alternatives. A specific tool has been developed to design more sustainable packaging. The percentage of technically recyclable packaging rose from 85% in 2008 to 96% in 2011, of which 41% comes from recycled material.

C. What makes you believe this company is really ethical and why you trust it?

We will not repeat here all the “conventional” CSR reasons for which a company should be considered ethical. We instead try to develop a reasoning which better explains the true feelings we address to this company and the deep reasons for which it touched our heart.

Teach a better living to future generations
Barilla shows its strong commitment in growing future generations both directly, by offering parents programs and courses on how to grow their children in a healthy way and by teaching a healthy lifestyle to children, both indirectly, by delivering nutritionally exceptional foods. The outstanding quality of all its products provides families with a great sense of security which makes them loyal to the brand. Mothers know they can rely on Barilla’s support for the better growth of their children and feel safe in the difficult, demanding everyday life of a parent. While raising their kids in a more conscious way, adults can conduct healthier, happier and more satisfying lives. Barilla knows that growing children in the best way is the most rewarding thing for a parent.
Future society will benefit both in less costs (healthier liestyles will eventually reduce the likeliness of diseases) and a greater rate of happiness. In this sense, Barilla is showing a great sense of care for the community.

Spread positive values for the creation of a better society
Since its foundation, in 1877, Barilla has always stood out of the crowd by using marketing as an effective tool to deliver warm, positive values to society. Heart striking images and strong values form the base of their marketing mission and operations. Barilla’s advertising campaigns are well known all around Europe for the pleasantness of their settings and the warmness of their topics. Recurrent themes are the importance of home as a gathering reality where relationships grow stronger, the pleasure of sharing and exchanging love and friendship, the love for simplicity and the respect for the nature.
Barilla believes the spreading of such values has the potential for shaping a better society. A more enjoyable place to live, where people feel involved in the same positive causes and are committed to do their best not to damage it. In a word, a more united, shared, sympathetic, responsible, happy society.

“We help people live better.” (Barilla’s vision)
Isn’t it ethical to make people happier? Isn’t it society’s happiness a respectable final ethical goal?

D.The possible challenges facing the company in the future and how you think this company may improve.

As we can see, Barilla proves to be an excellent food company in Italy in all respects. Next, it is developing its overseas markets, such as in America, Asia and Africa. Here are some suggestions for the further improvement of its ethical behaviour in its future development.

1. Barilla is accurately controlling the quality of its products under all subordinate brands. The company is pursuing its enterprises principle in the most faithfull, thanks to its ability to accomplish its quality targets under any circumstance. It also would need a perfect plan to maintain the quality of its products (source and quality of raw materials being particularly important) in overseas markets as high as in domestic markets, for it is impossible to transport all products from Italy to local markets due to high transportation cost and local factories’ capacity.
Supply chain built in overseas markets including America and other places all require a lot of investment, together with elaborate operations and knowledge. Investigating the local target market raw material resources and accordingly setting products catalogue may be a valid option.

2. Taking its products abroad must be accompanied by the communication of its corporate culture and philosophy. In Barilla, concept comes first than the products and markets. As what has been done in Italy, Barilla has the potential to export its healthy food, healthy-living concept and further feeling for life and happiness worldwide. It has been teaching parents how to better raise children, achieving good results in Italy.
Let’s imagine a scene set in a poor country in Africa: children are sharing Barilla pasta on a kind of rude table, meanwhile the same is happening in Italy or America. What children feel when having this delicious food made by heart is—happiness. Doing charity work abroad, especially directing it to poor regions and countries, sharing food with the people and let them know about Barilla and know about better living, would significantly further promote Barilla’s principle and vision about making people live better. An inspiring company increases its prosperity by giving people hope and helping them live their life better.