Giovannia Rana (UK) Ltd.
Address:
6 Valentine Place
London
SE1 8QH
Sales Contact: Harry Johnstone
Phone: 0207 921 9550
About Giovannia Rana (UK) Ltd.
As an Italian I've been surrounded by a true passion for cooking ever since I was a child. I started out as a delivery boy at my family's bakery in Verona, Italy. It was then that I learnt that even the simplest of foods can be turned into a real delight. At that time, I found great joy in bread-making and the aromas that came from the oven.
While growing up, "I fell in love" with fresh pasta. In 1961, when I was about 20 years old, I decided to start my own business making fresh filled pasta with the help of ten women in a small shop in San Giovanni Lupatoto, a country village not far from Verona. It was an unusual time to start this kind of business because people were still making their own pasta at home and few could afford to buy it. My competitors were rolling pins and strong family traditions.
I produced Tortellini only to order. The filling was prepared on Thursdays and the whole product was made on Fridays and Saturdays. The Tortellini was then delivered on Sundays.
Initially I delivered the products myself – first by motorcycle, my beloved Moto Guzzi - Guzzino and later in a Renault 4. In 1965 when the business started to increase, my sister and four friends joined me to help to deliver the products. Each of them was assigned a specific geographic area in the neighbourhood of Verona, Vicenza, Padua and Rovigo.
I created my own personal recipes in my kitchen and continued developing them with pointers from housewives. My first clients were local families who became so increasingly busy with work that they had little time to make fresh pasta at home.
As my business expanded, I made sure that my company would be one capable of preserving its genuine artisan approach. To do so, I use only carefully selected top quality ingredients. I even patented a pasta processing machine that reproduces the pasta maker's hand movements. This machine enables the pasta to have a particular texture similar to that of pasta that is prepared from scratch.
My fresh pasta was initially made by hand. In 1968 self-designed machinery was utilized which allowed for a significant increase in production. With this machinery, we increased from 50 kg to 60 kg per week to 10 kg per hour!
We Supply
- Fresh Pasta
- Fresh Pasta Sauces
- Ready Prepared Pasta Meals