As the 2025 Fancy Food Show continues at the Javits center through July 1st, Italian cuisine holds a special place as this edition’s Country Partner. This year, the sprawling show floor features over a dozen aisles packed with hundreds of Italian producers and distributors for all manner of goods – from mainstays of Italian cuisine like Parmigiano cheese and balsamic vinegar, to lesser-known delicacies like grilled vegetables jarred and preserved in oil. While the convention is a major opportunity for newer and smaller companies to make a name for themselves, established names in Italian cuisine are not skipping out. Barilla, arguably Italy’s most recognizable international food brand, is taking part in the convention to promote a new line of pasta that raises their bar for quality, dubbed “Al Bronzo.”
Two major factors determine the quality of pasta: the wheat it’s made from, and the method used to form noodles. For the former, sourcing Italian durum wheat is key, and for the latter, a bronze pasta die is the best equipment to turn a dough of wheat flour and water into the desired shape. The Al Bronzo line checks both boxes. “It’s a slower process that results in a pasta that’s thicker, has a rougher exterior texture, and holds on to sauce like nothing else,” says Nicola Corradi, who oversees media and external communications for Barilla. “The motto with bronze-worked pasta is that it’s made for ‘scarpetta,” he adds, referring to the Italian word for mopping up sauce pooled on one’s plate with noodles or bread.
For anyone who has not tried pasta made with a bronze die, the difference can feel like night and day, with “normal” pasta having a slippery mouthfeel by comparison. On the preparation side, that difference in texture also helps with sauces that can otherwise be tricky to evenly distribute, like Genoese pesto. The orecchiette being served at the Barilla booth on Sunday, with tomato sauce, burrata, and fresh basil, was a fine example of what the new product is capable of. Barilla also served their new Al Bronzo line of fusilloni (large and short spiral noodles) with a truffle sauce, cooked by an in-house chef, for a dinner with invited guests organized by the Italian Trade Agency, which left Corradi “very happy” with the feedback.
Al Bronzo changes up the image consumers have come to recognize in grocery stores, which has been established on the international scene at this point for decades. Gone is the trademark royal-blue box, replaced with an equally recyclable maroon packaging. Even the brand name seems to take a backseat, as “Al Bronzo” appears in larger print than “Barilla.” Corradi says the changes were made to give the product a more “artisanal” look, despite shifting away from the image consumers have come to recognize. “It’s a gamble,” he tells La Voce, “but we’re taking it because we believe that this kind of pasta has what it takes to succeed in the market, even as it takes a step away from our traditional branding.”
