Aldo Balocco, the Cavaliere del Lavoro honorary president of the confectionery colossus of the same name, has died, the one who introduced the “Mandorlato” panettone to Italians and others.
The 91-year-old entrepreneur was born in Fossano, in the Cuneo area, and over the years he has transformed his father's pastry shop into a large company with a turnover of 200 million euros and present in over 70 countries.
In 1955 he had hired Ermanno Crespi, the one who had brought natural leavening to Fossano, learned in Motta and Alemagna. Hence the idea of the tall panettone, like the Milanese one, but glazed like the Piedmontese one. And the success was immediate, leading Balocco to become one of the best known brands.
In 2021, 65 thousand tons of baked goods were made: not only panettone and Easter doves, also shortbread, wafers, amaretti, ladyfingers and puff pastry.
In 2010 the then President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, appointed Aldo Balocco as Cavaliere del Lavoro.
(Unioneonline / ss)
