Panzani is a French brand of

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ar ...

. Since 2005, it has been a subsidiary of

Ebro Foods Ebro Foods, S.A. (; ), formerly Ebro Puleva, is a Spanish food processing company. Ebro Foods is the world's largest producer of rice and the second biggest producer of pasta (its Panzani brand is a market leader in France). The company's head offi ...

Overview

The brand was started by Jean Panzani in

Parthenay Parthenay () is an ancient fortified town and ''commune'' in the Deux-Sèvres department of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. It is sited on a rocky spur that is surrounded on two sides by the River Thouet, and is the su ...

in 1950. In the 1950s, he sold pasta in

cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coated ...

whereas other companies used cardboard. From 1960 to 1964, it merged with La Lune and Régia Scaramelli. It was in the 1960s that it became the market leader in pasta wholesalers in France. In 1964,

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popula ...

analysed a commercial by Panzani in his essay entitled 'The Rhetoric of the Image', suggesting Panzani was trying to come across as

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

.Terry Harpold, ''Ex-Foliations: Reading Machines and the Upgrade Path'', University of Minnesota Press, 2009, p. 14

/ref> In 1973, it was bought by

Groupe Danone A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches o ...

. Its TV commercials featured André Aubert as Don Patillo, a namesake for

Don Camillo Don Camillo () and Peppone () are the fictional protagonists of a series of works by the Italian writer and journalist Giovannino Guareschi set in what Guareschi refers to as the "small world" of rural Italy after World War II. Most of the Don Ca ...

, made famous by

Fernandel Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French actor and singer. Born near Marseille, France, to Désirée Bedouin and Denis Contandin, originating in Perosa Argentina, an Occitan t ...

. In 1997, it was bought by Paribas Affaires Industrielles. In 2002, it bought Lustucru, another French brand of pasta. In April 2005, it was bought by Ebro Foods.

References

Pasta companies French brands Food and drink companies established in 1946 Companies based in Lyon BNP Paribas 1946 establishments in France 1973 mergers and acquisitions 1997 mergers and acquisitions 2002 mergers and acquisitions 2005 mergers and acquisitions {{France-company-stub