Barilla and the joy of good food open the 2022 IGLTA 38th Global Convention in Milan

“Take a traveler who chooses the wrong path. If the path makes them discover things about themself - and about the world - that they never would have known and that make them a better person - can we still say that that path was the wrong one?” With these words Barilla, the family-owned, pasta and bakery company with a presence in more than 100 countries, starts telling its Diversity and Inclusion journey, in a couple of minutes video you can easily find in YouTube. It’s a story of pauses, rerouting and decisive moves to change the company culture, a distinctive approach to learn from others in order to accelerate their progress, as well as obtaining input from their employees. A journey to seize the moment to learn, grow, and foster inclusivity.

“In five decades of working on diversity challenges, never have I seen a company embrace so quickly, passionately and successfully diversity, inclusion and equality for its employees. Barilla has set the standard for other companies to match and has proceeded with authenticity and substance”.

David Mixner, Civil Rights Activist , Barilla D&I External Advisor

It’s during the same journey, back in 2020 that Barilla became aware of the 38th edition of IGLTA Global Convention. What an opportunity for the food Company to share the same table at home, in Italy and offer a moment of joy and meaning during the opening soirée. A pandemic was not enough to discourage this commitment and finally in October 2022 the opening reception will occur in the sumptuous setting of the magnificent Sforza castle in Milan.

It’s well known that the best deals and the best conversations are made at the dinner table. It’s the best location to talk about travelling, good food and common values. It’s the right place to invite a Michelin star chef, even a courageous activist like Viviana Varese, the Italian chef who breaks down the barriers around the LGBTQ+ community and a “champion of change” in the world, thanks to its commitment to social inclusion with a strong focus on inclusiveness for both staff and suppliers. All these motivations convinced Barilla to ask Viviana to sign the menu.

ph. Azzurra Primavera

Viviana Varese

At a dinner, pasta can be without any doubt an incredible and universal sign of love. The menu proposes three choices of amuse-buches by BluRhapsody, the Barilla brand that uses 3D printing technology to create unique pasta shapes. Viviana Varese interprets the three shapes with superb mastery - Kalpis, Clam and Sfera – using the shape and high customisation potential to her advantage. The amphora, aka Kalpis and Sfera are in fact produced using the colours of the rainbow: powerful symbolism in a glance. Colour, passion and activism are therefore conveyed in Viviana Varese’s recipes. Following the new Barilla “Al Bronzo-Lavorazione Grezza” pasta, inspired by traditional drawing methods and based on a mixture of fine, 100% Italian grains. Behind each recipe there is a story made up of passion, quality, people and values. That’s why each of Barilla products tells its story and the story of its commitment to people and the world we live in.

KEY BARILLA COMPANY MILESTONES:

Since Barilla began participation in 2015, every year the Company has earned a 100% score in the Human Right Campaign (HRC) annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which ranks major corporations on how they support LGBT+ employees. The Barilla Group is the first Italian company to support the Standards of Conduct for Business promoted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) aimed at tackling LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and intersex) discrimination in business. The Standards of Conduct for Business outline certain rules of conduct that companies should adopt toward LGBTI employees, suppliers, customers, and distributors. They range from respecting and supporting the human rights of the LGBTI community in where companies do business, to eliminating discrimination and providing support for the LGBTI workforce. Barilla developed ongoing relationships with the LGBTQ community, from meeting with important activists and stakeholders to deepening relationships with organizations such as the Tyler Clementi Foundation and GLAAD, Parks in Italy, Autre Cercle in France and Prout at Work in Germany. Barilla employees have marched in many Pride Parades in cities such as Milan, Chicago, Paris, Cologne, and CEO Claudio Colzani signed the CEO Action for D&I pledge, committing to advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Barilla sponsors OPENLY, a global digital platform delivering fair, accurate and impartial LGBT+ news. Developed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Openly has the ambition of becoming the ultimate destination for trusted LGBT+ news and information from around the world. 2021 marks another significant milestone in the Diversity and Inclusion journey. Barilla is the first Italian family-owned food company to receive the premier 2021 Catalyst Award for initiatives that have accelerated progress for women and increased inclusion for all within its organizations around the world. Barilla is being honored for its turnaround to become a model of inclusion for their LGBTQ+ employees and all underrepresented groups working for the company. Barilla continues on this journey with humility, knowing that learning from others and learning from mistakes can be key enablers to positive change.

VIVIANA VARESE’S INTERVIEW

For Viviana Varese cooking is synonymous with life; it requires passion, commitment, creativity, dedication, and humility. All qualities that the Michelin-star chef - born in Salerno in 1974 - has shown since, as a child, she started cooking in the family’s fish restaurant. Her personal and professional path led her to leave Campania to grow, learn and perfect her profession skills in top restaurants. Today Viviana leads her restaurant VIVA in Milan, onto Eataly Smeraldo. On 26 October, on the occasion of the opening evening of the 2022 IGLTA Global Convention, Barilla asked Viviana to sign the different pasta recipes proposed to the prestigious guests of the evening: two shapes of the new Barilla “Al Bronzo-Lavorazione Grezza” pasta and three choices of amuse-buches by BluRhapsody, the Barilla brand that uses 3D printing technology to create unique pasta shapes. On this occasion Barilla chats with Viviana and share common values such as passion, courage and inclusion.

Barilla: Let’s start with the basics. What is your relationship with pasta? Do you have a favorite format or an anecdote to share with us?

Viviana Varese: Pasta is fundamental for me, it represents Italy and the Italian spirit, I have always loved it as a chef and as a person, it is the protagonist in my menus and is the main dish of our tradition and also of innovation in the kitchen. As a famous pasta maker once told me “Pasta must be lived”, it must be cooked and treated with love and care, starting from the grains with which it is made, to the ingredients with which it is served. My favorite format is penne lisce :-)

Barilla: When we discussed the involvement of a chef at the opening gala of the 2022 IGLTA Convention, we had no doubts in calling you and asking you to be our ambassador. The passion with which you lead your commitment to abused wo-

ph. Azzurra Primavera

men, your LGBTQ + activism and your entrepreneurial approach in wanting to restore dignity and economic independence to minorities speak for you. Why did you choose us?

Viviana Varese: I believe that in this historical moment it is essential that not only small companies take an interest in these issues and rights that involve all of us, but above all large companies. I am happy that an international company like Barilla takes care of these matters and supports these events, because it is thanks to this type of projects that the voice rises to higher levels and can be heard.

Barilla: We recently coined again our purpose: “the joy of food for a better life”. We want our products to represent opportunities for joy, emotion, sharing. Don’t you think we have something in common? What is your way of doing business?

Viviana Varese: I have a manifesto, exposed in my restaurant, in an artistic form and words, which contains my vision and my being, my way of understanding life and also my work and my

Viviana Varese

activity as an entrepreneur. Among these words there is joy, enthusiasm, freedom, passion, harmony, love, biodiversity, sharing, sustainability ... which is why I believe that today those who do business with this approach are in line with me and with what I do and try to do.

Barilla: In 2021, you received the 50 Best “Champions of Change” award - dedicated to those who lead positive change in the community. What are the most relevant challenges in the food community, the one we belong to?

Viviana Varese: Trying to cook well, being attentive to what we put on the plate are the starting point of every restaurant activity. Cooking is a political act because if I feed my customers paying attention and care for the ingredient and for the environment with a view to respect for small producers, making choices of sustainability and support for biodiversity, but also doing continuous training to my employees and young people who wish to undertake this work, I am acting for the future and to make it better.