[GTranslate]PARMA – Barilla conquers Canada. The leading global food company announced its acquisition of the Catelli dry pasta business in Montreal – which includes Lancia and Splendor brands too – closed on January 29, 2021. Value of the deal: approximately 107 million euros ($ 130 million).

As a family-owned company, Barilla is “committed to bringing food to the world inspired by the Italian lifestyle and Mediterranean diet” and “Catelli, a leading Canadian brand, is aligned with this commitment. Together, these two iconic brands will work together to pursue a vision of promoting joyful and healthy food”, as reported in Barilla’s official website (click here: BARILLA GROUP ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF CATELLI DRY PASTA ).

“In Barilla, we’re leading the charge in transforming the pasta category, and as a category leader worldwide, it’s our mission to be an architect of growth,” said Claudio Colzani, Chief Executive Officer of the Barilla Group. “Given the synergies between our business strategies, commitments and values, Catelli dry pasta is a natural fit for the expansion of our business. This acquisition will help underscore the importance of our responsibility to not only serve and satisfy the ever-changing needs of consumers through innovation but also to anticipate them.”

“Barilla is a family company that has always put people first – starting with caring for our employees. We’re thrilled to expand our North American operations, and we welcome the Catelli team to the Barilla family,” said Jean-Pierre Comte, President of Barilla Americas.

The acquisition comes at the end of a year in which the controversy over durum wheat imported into Italy from Canada and the USA has rekindled: in North Amerria the legislation on phytosanitary treatments is less “severe” than the European one, starting with the use of glyphosate , the most widely used herbicide in the world, classified as a “probable carcinogen” by IARC, the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer.

According to the survey published by the Italian magazine “Il Salvagente” (click here: Torna il grano canadese nella pasta italiana (e l’incubo glifosato), in the first three months of 2020, 700 million kilos of wheat destined for pasta had been landed in Italy and as many as 254 million came from Canada and 175 from the United States. And, according to estimates, in 2020, the total durum wheat imported from Ottawa exceeded one billion kilos, reaching the level of 2016.

On balance, therefore, imports from Canada return to the levels of 4 years ago and this is due to the customs facilities provided by CETA, the free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union: the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, signed between the EU and Canada and provisionally entered into force in September 2017, has therefore favored the return of Canadian wheat imports. Will Barilla’s investment in Canada reverse the trend?