Today’s monthly interview is with Gianluca Gariuolo, Head of Business Development at Amaro Lucano. Together, we’ll explore the “Grand Tour of Corporate Museums” project and understand how companies can serve as both high-quality tourist attractions and custodians of regional manufacturing heritage.
The Grand Tour of Corporate Museums is not only a journey through time but also a blend of history and innovation. What was the most surprising element you discovered while bringing this project to life, something perhaps even you weren’t fully aware of?
The Grand Tour is primarily a journey through the stories of visionary artisans in small communities who, often with family support, transformed small workshops into deeply rooted businesses and industries. The near-identical connection between the product and its place of production is perhaps the most surprising element linking the Tour’s destinations. The histories of Andria, Altamura, Pisticci, and Rossano are intertwined with the stories of Confetti Mucci, Forte Bread, Amaro Lucano, and Amarelli Licorice. These products belong not only to the company but to an entire community. Amaro Lucano is not just the bitters of the Vena Group; it is the bitters of all the people of Pisticci and Basilicata.
If you could choose an item or a detail from the Essenza Lucano Museum that embodies the essence of Amaro Lucano and its story, what would you choose and why?
Essenza Lucano is a multisensory journey: it first strikes the nose and then the eyes with the inebriating and unmistakable aroma of 32 medicinal herbs that guide visitors from the expansive aromatic garden in the entrance courtyard, a fascinating place where botany becomes tangible, allowing visitors to touch the ingredients used in the liquor’s formula. Visitors can touch the fresh and dried herbs used to make extracts and listen to some of the famous ads of past years, ending with a tasting experience at the shop. Yet one museum detail captures the 130-year history of Amaro Lucano: the original bottle mold surrounded by a collection of Amaro Lucano labels spanning the last 130 years. From the original mold to the latest label, there’s a proud thread chosen by Founder Pasquale Vena himself: the pacchiana, Pisticci, the production site, and the motto “Labor and Honesty.” That label embodies the very essence and secret of Amaro Lucano: hard work, honesty, and Pisticci, innovating in tradition for over 130 years.
The Grand Tour brings the entrepreneurial culture of Southern Italy to life. How do you think international visitors perceive this synergy of tradition and innovation when visiting the museums? Has any visitor reaction particularly struck you?
The Grand Tour of Corporate Museums, which includes the Mucci Confetti Museum, the Vito Forte Bread Museum, the Giorgio Amarelli Licorice Museum, and of course Essenza Lucano, was born after an event promoted by Oropan and Museimpresa in November 2022 in Altamura. The idea was to bring together places and companies capable of innovating while maintaining a strong connection to their past and offering this heritage of entrepreneurial culture and “know-how” to an international audience. Inspired by the Grand Tours of the 19th century, when Italy was a destination for Central European writers who drew inspiration from their Italian journeys, our guests are not just “gastronauts” or Italian food enthusiasts. They’re interested in learning about the stories behind each product. The business journey, which inevitably includes challenging phases, has brought products like candy, bread, liqueur, and a noble root across more than two centuries to be appreciated and enjoyed worldwide. I’m always struck that foreign visitors, especially those from North America, are among the most curious and eager to understand how a small artisan from a small Southern Italian community managed to capture interest in Italy and abroad.
Beyond the history of Amaro Lucano, each museum involved holds its own stories. If you were to write the next chapter in Lucanian business history, how would you imagine it in 50 years? What kinds of businesses or sectors would you envision?
The story of Amaro Lucano is, above all, the story of a company that has invested in and continues to produce in Basilicata. The Essenza Lucano Museum itself is an investment that strengthens the company’s bond with its place of origin, envisioning at least another 130 years. While I don’t know which sector might lead in the future, Basilicata is a productive area known for its agro-food excellence and companies that have embraced new technologies and expanded into new markets. Regardless of the sector, my hope is that Lucanian businesses in 50 years will continue innovating within tradition.
The tour isn’t just about entrepreneurship; it’s also about exploring the region. If the “Grand Tour of Museums” were a cocktail, which ingredients would best represent its spirit, and what would you name it?
We already have a liqueur product named after the Museum, Amaro Essenza Lucano, created to celebrate the museum’s opening. It’s an anniversary reserve of Amaro aged for twelve months in barrels previously used for grappa. If it were a cocktail, it would certainly include some of the herbs cultivated in Basilicata since the days of the Carthusian monks, following monastic tradition.
What does the future hold for the project? Are there plans to expand the “Grand Tour of Corporate Museums” to include other Italian companies or to create new international partnerships?
The Grand Tour of Corporate Museums is part of the Museimpresa Association, and already other members in various Italian regions are considering ways to strengthen networks and partnerships between museums to improve accessibility. The growth and development of the Grand Tour network represents an opportunity for all production sites sharing the goal of promoting corporate culture. In 2025, we will focus particularly on schools and industrial tourism, an increasingly growing sector.
To conclude, could you recommend a book and a film that you think capture the essence of Italian tradition and entrepreneurship?
There are many business stories worth telling, reading, and watching. Stories of great entrepreneurs or monographs on Italian geniuses who changed our daily lives are worth knowing for the inspiration they offer. Among the lesser-known figures, I would recommend reading “Adriano Olivetti, an Italian of the Twentieth Century”.
