Raffaele Petroni A lot of creativity for a sweet passion How did you start? We come from the oil world… from the almonds. All earth’s products. I started this work path when I was very young… we are four brothers and, being the youngest, I had to start really soon to work and to take the responsibility because my father at a certain point had health problems… we started to manage the oil mill, that has been our world for about hundred years. My daughter now represents the fifth generation… What happened then? Thirty years ago, I transgressed. I abandoned the oil and almonds’ world to change road… and going on, my brothers followed me too so today we have the oil mill just as a symbol… every job needs dedication, it cannot be only a hobby. For this reason, I’m focused on what I’m currently doing… However, it has a relationship with the almonds? Yes, because the current clients of Geladis were clients of the almonds production… more than a change, it has been an evolution. Can you explain us this passage phase? We produced almonds until ’87,’88… then I was not passionate anymore… I am a person who works for passion. I tell to my collaborators they don’t have to feel as workers, as it was once common to say… you are the workers of your company… this is what I tell them, because they spend in the company the greatest part of their time… this is their home, in good and bad moments, even when we need to face the climbs… so, to follow a passion, I became a seller of raw materials for pastry shops. I was 23, 24 years old… I used to go to sell the ingredients and I didn’t know neither how to use them… then I started to attend courses, because I believe that if you are professional you can better sell the products you represent. Why did this sector passionate you? Because it is a constantly evolving sector, it never stops. I better explain myself: oil is oil. That’s it. In the pastry, you need to make up every day new products. During the night I used to think what to produce the day after… in ’95 we founded the Gedalis. We produced some ingredients for the ice-cream shop. 24
I remember the first brochure of Geladis had two pages. Some ingredients for the ice-cream and some powders… going on, the company has evolved. With the rest of the family? Sure. Everyone with his job. I was a local seller. I used to propose products that were not mine… the other brother dedicated himself to the production. Today we produce more than 800 articles… and it is a big satisfaction for us. It is an important result having started to produce a selection of products that we just used to sell in past. The production part always belonged to us, for our formation, since when we used to produce oil… here we have the raw materials that make the difference. And I imagine they make the difference. The great part of the 800 products in your catalogue shall have as main character the raw materials of the territory. Nowadays almonds become almond’s paste. And thinking about our past, after almonds, we started last year a path with a modern alimentary product… the vegan food. We developed the “burroil”… a butter made of extra virgin olive oil. A product that we will start selling next autumn and that our trusted clients are now testing… a butter that is used in replace of the animal butter in the “panettone”, “colomba” and in other sweets, like the shortbread biscuits… a lighter product that keeps the same fat… at 84%, like the traditional butter. This butter will be called Petroni, so it will recall the name of our family. Of course, it will be sold from our company… then we will see the market answer. A lot of attention to the vegan world? Yes, sure. We have some pastries for vegan sweets, for the vegan ice-cream or for people with milk intolerance or problems with sugar… a healthy line that, to be honest, is present in Geladis since more than 3 years.
In addition to the production and the sale, your strength today is the formation… We organized hundred courses even when we didn’t have the classrooms. The client is a resource to protect and cuddle. He needs to be respected. If you bring innovation, he comes back to you. We used to do two buses per year to do the courses, even 13 hours traveling to attend the courses in the companies… then we started to build some classrooms to organize here the courses with the technicians. Gedalis puts an undoubted commitment in the formation and constant organization of courses in our “Formative centre” and at our clients’ sites. We believe formation is the key of the success, in fact our courses are an important part of the offered services, giving to the participants all the necessary instruments for their activities, with a wide knowledge and a continuous support along the time. Gedalis has a team of sellers and assistants that is an excellent source for all the needs of our clients. They are supported by a dynamic selling system and a team that offers complete assistance for all the possible needs. As we were saying, the Puglia’s raw materials richness is for sure a great advantage… The richness of the fruit gives us great satisfactions. We use fresh strawberries and not aromas anymore, melons, prickly pear… we have agreements with producers that grow, work and certify these products, they give them to us and we transform them in our raw material. In fact we have a line that is called “All natural” … Luciano, right arm and food technologist, follows the ideas and develop them. The other brother is Mario, still in charge of the local commercial area and the last arrived is Carmine, who’s in the commercial division of the company. What is your “Oltre”? We have already seen beyond! Look at our slogan, it is “We went beyond…”, since two years.
Traduzione inglese a cura di Irene Cristallo