Barilla makes 'wet pasta' for the wok

Guido Barilla, chairman of Barilla Group, the world's largest pasta company, emphasizes the importance of "made for the people" when he talks about the company's global strategy.

At a recent event in New York where Barilla, 54, the family business's fourth generation, launched a biography of his late father, he revealed the company's ambitious plan to tap into emerging markets, with Brazil and China topping the list.

"China is by definition an extremely important market for every food producer, and China is an immense market for us" among the emerging markets, he said, adding that Barilla is focusing on developing its business in emerging economies.

Barilla, who first visited China 12 years ago, said his team has developed the "wet pasta" a new product that's tailored for Chinese consumers.

It's designed to be cooked in the Chinese wok. Adding sauce will make it taste like authentic Italian pasta, except that it's been made in a Chinese kitchen, he said.

"This is what we want to achieve, to make a product that is friendly to Asian and Chinese consumers," said Barilla, adding that the company aims to launch the product within the next 2 years.

Like many foreign companies, Barilla's products are already in some Chinese stores. While it doesn't have an operation in the world's second-largest economy, developing "pasta for the wok" will mean forming partnerships with local food companies to co-produce it.

The partnerships are what Barilla calls "testing the water" for further investment. "If they are successful, we will be open to invest and build factories in China in the next three or four years," he said.

Barilla and his brothers Luca and Paolo took over the family pasta business after his father Pietro died in 1993.

The company started in a pasta and bread shop in 1877 in Parma, Italy, which is its headquarters.

With more than 40 factories in countries including Greece, Germany, Russia, Turkey and the United States, and annual production of about 2.5 million tons, the Barilla Group sells its pasta, bread and bakery goods in 100 countries.

Annual revenue has been about 3.2 billion euros ($4.16 billion) since the company sold its interest in the German bakery company Lieken in February.

Selling the company after having managed it for the past decade will allow the Italian pasta producer to focus on its core business, Barilla added.

The company entered the US market in 1996 and became the top brand in the US after just three years.

North and South America represent some 15 percent of its revenue and Asia and Africa together are about 5 percent.

Barilla said he doesn't have an opinion on the long-running debate over whether pasta originated in China or Italy, because of the similarity between pasta and Chinese noodles.

But he said that in a way the debate has created a link between the two food cultures.

"The Chinese have a very good 'friendship' with pasta because they eat noodles, and it's definitely an opportunity for us," said Barilla, adding that his favorite Chinese food is dim sum, which reminds him of ravioli.

The chairman said the company's goal, which was his father's vision, is not to just run a business and win the Chinese market. Rather, it wants to be an "ambassador of Italian cuisine" to help strengthen Sino-Italian cultural understanding.

Barilla attended the recent Global Fortune Forum in Chengdu. "I was amazed by the quality of the city and the hospitality it shows its guests," he said.

Barilla's goal to make the brand a cultural ambassador makes him a regular visitor to China.

"The next trip is in September," he said.