There is Pitti moda, but there is also ‘Pitti Taste’, the Florentine exhibition dedicated to the excellence of Italian taste, which every year awards the Oscars of the Chocolate world. For the year 2023, professional tasters, journalists from the sector, experts and refined gourmets have included a company from Verona in the “top five” of the best Cremini in Italy (out of more than 1200 chocolates tasted). A small artisan company from Legnago, but with 40 years of experience, which is now among the most famous names in the world of confectionery.
Stringhetto is the surname of a family that has always been involved in fruit growing. Thanks to the voraciousness and intuition of Stefano, Fabrizio’s son, they started a new path, transforming their products into what is now a “Chocolate Factory“. A 3000 square metre space (in Via Maestri del Lavoro in Legnago) that houses the machinery, the warehouse, the shop, but also a new hospitality area designed to host cooking courses and “taste tourists”.
But let us take a step back. Because if it is true that the fountains of chocolate, the truffles of seeds, the towers of bars and the cremini immediately attract the palate, then at Stringhetto the eye is immediately captured by whole coloured walls of various preparations or fruit concentrates. Don’t call them jams. We are talking about real “fruit by the spoonful“, with marked differences from what the average supermarket offers. Firstly, the raw material comes directly from the family farm and from controlled supply chains. There are no thickeners, no preservatives, no sucrose and no pectin. They are naturally gluten-free. The fruit content is +110%, the low cooking temperature and the absence of air preserve all the characteristics of the fruit, with a shelf life of up to 36 months.
From breakfast to aperitif, with cheese or ice cream. Variations on the theme include a delicious pear and chocolate risotto. In fact, the artisans of goodness suggest that dessert should be enjoyed at times other than the usual ones. There is no shortage of inspiration. There are more than 40 fruit preparations to which you can add 14 spreadable creams and chocolate. Some of the more unusual combinations? Pumpkin and ginger, melon and lemon or tropical (pineapple, orange, lime, kiwi, mango). Others are even fancier according to ‘private label’ supply requests, many of which also end up abroad.
The must-have? The cremino, of course, but on the podium there is also… the strawberry. Named the best in Italy by Gambero Rosso in 2020 after a blind tasting of hundreds of preparations. Stringhetto is a small, medium-sized company that employs around 30 people at peak times. However, it is not afraid to grow and there are already over 400 shops where you can find its delicacies. There is also e-commerce and a single brand point in Bologna. The awards continue to reward the company’s commitment to quality. In addition to the Chocolate Oscar for Cremino, the Stringhetto family received the “Guardians of Taste 2022” plaque from Confesercenti Verona, and Eataly has dedicated a pop-up corner to them in the store opened in Verona a few months ago.
