The story we’d like to tell you begins a few years after the end of the Great War.
Ethiopia and Eritrea had become Italian territories, thus the Venturato brothers—Cirillo
and Antonio—decided to leave for the cape of Africa. With nothing but youthful enthusiasm
to their names, they departed in search of adventure.
In Ethiopia the two brothers discovered a drink characterized by its intense, invigorating
flavor that, at that time, was only available in Europe’s most wealthy circles.
The coffee, derived from a plant native to that Country, was prepared in a Berberan
fashion, served hot and fragrant. It was a pleasure that accompanied the Venturato
brothers during their entire stay in the African territories.
After several years, the Venturato brothers decided to return to their native Treviso.
Nonetheless, their nostalgia for that far-away land and the intense aroma of its
coffee pushed Antonio Venturato to search for way to maintain ties with Africa.
The brothers came up with the idea of creating an imports company and, in 1925,
the two brothers and their partners obtained a license for ‘Importation Management
of Colonial Products’. Such was the historic beginning of the Venturato coffee roaster
company.
Venturato brothers never returned to Ethiopia despite the irresistible attraction
that this country had on them. They simply couldn’t find time to go back due to
the success of their business. In exchange, they travelled far and wide, to many
other parts of the world. As passionate entrepreneurs, they could not be content
with choosing coffee at the port of Trieste. Instead, they preferred the trials
of long ocean journeys to Brazil, Columbia and the Ivory Coast, where they established
business connections and built friendships with each region’s best local coffee
producers. In fact, thanks to the work of Valentino Venturato, Cirillo’s son, they
were able to construct several coffee roasting plants on behalf of the Madagascar
government. Oftentimes, they waited abroad for harvesting. They would show up at
the plantations early in the morning, together with the farm workers, to be certain
that only the most ripe, faultless beans were selected. This direct relationship
with cultivators still exists today, as one can see from the brand, as it appears
on our jute sacks; they’re exactly the same as nearly 100 years ago.
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