Timeline – Besana: 100 Years

1921 IN THE WORLD:

Albert Einstein,
in 1921, wins the Nobel Prize for Physics.

Emilio Besana founds the “Emilio Besana & Co”,finding areas of intervention in the processing of nuts.

1925 IN THE WORLD:

Coco Chanel
changes the concept
of fashion

Emilio’s brother Vincenzo Besana joins the company. Together, within a decade, they take Besana to leadership in the nut market in Italy and Europe.

1935 IN THE WORLD:

Enrico Fermi
obtains the
nuclear fission.

The current plant is built in San Gennaro Vesuviano (Naples), next to the railway.

1955 IN THE WORLD:

Sofia Loren and Totò
become immortal
icons of film.

Always a step ahead in industrialization, Besana installs the first mechanical shelling system for hazelnuts.

1968 IN THE WORLD:

It’s 1968. These are the years of student protests and hippies.

Despite the considerably high costs, Besana realizes the very first shipment by air to London to deliver an urgent Christmas order on time.

1975 IN THE WORLD:

The war
in Vietnam
ends.

Besana gives a strong boost to automation, to allow for an easier and faster harvesting of the hazelnuts.

1982 IN THE WORLD:

Italy wins
the football
world cup.

Pino Calcagni, patron of Besana, is among the promoters of INC, an international foundation aiming at the promotion of nuts worldwide.

1990 IN THE WORLD:

The computer scientist Tim Berners Lee invents the html language and creates the basis for the first global network of interconnections.

Opening of the production plant in the UK, now in Ipswich, a crucial hub for international logistics.

1999 IN THE WORLD:

The introduction
of the Euro

Besana is a pioneer in the installation of pasteurization processes without the use of chemical products on nuts and dried fruit.

2000 IN THE WORLD:

The Wikipedia
era begins.

Pioneers in Organic products: In 2000 Besana was one of the founders of ‘Almaverde Bio’, one of the first brands in the organic sector, and among one of the most nationally recognized.

2008 IN THE WORLD:

Water is discovered on the planet Mars.

Besana is the first company to import Goji berries to Europe, one of the quintessential superfoods, facing off with the European Commission to agree on control methods and specification parameters for imports.

2012 IN THE WORLD:

The year of the
Dragon begins.

Besana joins the ‘Italian Food Tradition’ Consortium, to promote Italian agro-food excellences abroad.

2014 IN THE WORLD:

Marc Zuckerberg
buys Whatsapp.

Besana installs solar panels on the roof of the San Gennaro Vesuviano plant, which together with the advanced ‘trigeneration’ systems cover most of the company's energy needs.