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The “Montebello” Cooperative

This is where Girolomoni’s controlled supply chain organic pasta is made

MEMBER AND AFFILIATED FARMS
WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE ORGANIC CAUSE

Durum wheat and ancient wheat varieties with a short and organic supply chain, used to make Girolomoni pasta

Currently, some 400 farms in Italy are involved in the organic supply chain of our pasta. More than 70% of these are in the Marche.

Cooperativa Montebello is part of the Girolomoni Ecosystem and is tasked with the management, support, and organisation of that part of the integrated supply chain that goes from seed to the mill.

Cooperativa Montebello also offers other services to farmers, including associated management of crops that are rotated with durum wheat and other grain. A few examples of these organic crops are chick peas, field beans, lentils, sunflowers, and feeds. Crop rotation is the first step in agroecological management of farms, where a sequence of crops is grown in place of monoculture.

THE COMPANIES IN THE ORGANIC FARMING SUPPLY CHAIN

Over 300 growers of 100% Italian wheat

Cutting edge

Working with the Polytechnic University of the Marche, Research Institutes and national and international bodies, we are promoting innovation in culture and technology. We set up Biocereals 4.0, a project dedicated to the development of organic farming, guiding every technological transition for our farms. We want to support them as they gradually implement the principles of precision agriculture, as well as through the digitalisation of the supply chain.

Agroecology

We circulate the concept of Agroecology as a new model for more sustainable agricultural development over the long term. This means being Guardians of the Earth. It means going “BEYOND ORGANIC” for the ultimate aim of returning “DIGNITY TO THE LAND”, as passed down to us by Gino Girolomoni.

To do this, we have boosted all of the agronomic practices that help in soil fertility and fight hydro-geological instability, such as rotating crops over a longer period and planting crops that better nourish the ground. We also promote the abolition of ploughing in favour of techniques that are far more delicate and limited to the surface, in much the same way as we favour land cover.

The Vision of Cooperativa Montebello

A rural community at the forefront of organic agriculture, at the root of the Girolomoni supply chain

The Mission of Cooperativa Montebello

To create a supply chain for pasta and pasta for the supply chain

For the Cooperative, this translates as a constant commitment to the whole organic pasta supply chain.

  1. We distribute the added value obtained from selling organic pasta, by reinvesting in every stage of the supply chain: infrastructures, services for agriculture, training, and innovation.
  2.  We boost collaboration and interaction with Universities, Research Institutes and national and international Entities dedicated to the development of organic farming in Italy and all over the world.
  3.  We support the technological transition dof the our associated farms, both by gradually implementing the principles of precision agriculture, as well as through the digitalisation of the supply chain.

More about the Biocerelas 4.0 project ›

We provide services to agriculture aimed at training and at optimising running costs for cultivation, using all the national and EU resources available to agriculture, to the benefit of farmers and to promote the growth of the Girolomoni ecosystem supply chain.

A fair price for wheat

We guarantee farmers a price for their organic wheat that is above market rates.

ANCIENT WHEAT. WHEN TRADITION MEANS REVOLUTION
Ancient wheat types are varieties grown before the use of synthetic chemistry in farming. The industrialisation of production techniques has caused a shift in the selection and choice of wheat towards those varieties best suited to conventional agriculture, where the priority is productivity and grain resistance to high processing temperatures.

Through Cooperativa Montebello and organic farmers in general, have become involved in recovering ancient wheat varieties for three reasons:

  • Because they are grains that can adapt to the more difficult climates of marginal agricultural areas and do not need particular support.
  • Because these varieties have contributed to the development of a sustainable supply line, including in economic terms, with greater added value from their production and even a more marked characterisation compared to the generic, indistinguishable cereal grown for the food industry.
  • Because they enrich our tables with a more varied, balanced diet that also makes the most of biodiversity, preventing genetic erosion of the crops grown in the field.

This is why ancient wheat varieties such as Graziella Ra, Senatore Cappelli and Spelt (Triticum Dicoccum) – grown by the organic farms in Cooperativa Montebello – are types of grain that show us every aspect of biodiversity: taste, aroma and colour.

More about ancient wheat pasta ›

NEW SEEDS FOR ORGANIC GROWING
Together with partners from Italy and Europe, we are members of the SEMINARE IL FUTURO foundation, created to select seed suited to organic agriculture and climate change conditions, using natural methods.

Visit the website of SEMINARE IL FUTURO ›

JOIN COOPERATIVA MONTEBELLO

There is an area especially created for you

You can have access to specific information and frequent updates on our short organic supply chain.
A reserved area for farmers who – like us – have chosen organic agriculture.

Enter the reserved area
“The countryside is Italian identity in a physical form; it expresses the way we use our limited vital resources in an area – water, air, plants and food – together with our ability to look after the land and the health of its fruits, representing the state of freedom of our people”.

Gino Girolomoni
from Viaggio intorno al Mediterraneo

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