Leonardo Mastromauro, Attilio’s father, started a rudimentary pasta production plant, outdoors, with wooden logs to act as arms for the engine and a donkey to put the strength into it. The dough was produced step by step, at marked rhythms, like a dance, and Attilio, at the age of six, was already making his contribution.

Seven-and-a-half years old and full of emotions and hope, little Attilio set sail aboard the “Guglielmo Pierce” to discover the new world. Desire to act and feel like architects of the future, this is America, it is immense, and Attilio fully embraced this feeling of responsibility that was to accompany him over time.

1932. “Come back home” wrote Leonardo to the rest of the family. He anticipated the return trip and initiative supported him. The “white art” of pasta-making in Southern Italy was by then a reality and the Mastromauros started up again with an avant-garde production plant whose example of scientificity was in the final phase of production, drying, to which the young Attilio made substantial changes to improve quantity and quality and to enhance the “gold of the Tavoliere” (the large flat area of Puglia). Pasta is popular, in great demand, and in 1936 the internal combustion engine arrived to independently produce electricity and further speed up the process.

The urgency in Italy was to “make a comeback” after the great conflict and the Mastromauro family was not to be caught unprepared. The pasta factory moved, expanded and started the first plants for mechanized production. A lot of pasta was produced every day, from morning to night and attention to detail was the factor that mattered most of all.

To the pain of the loss of his father Leonardo, Attilio contrasted the joy of his marriage to Chiara and the birth of their children, Marina and Daniela.

The closeness of “his” women was to be a mainstay of his actions

In 1970 the production systems were renovated. A factory building was constructed that had a surface double that of the old factory, and new lines were created, including pasta in semolina nests and egg pasta. In 1972 a new production line for short cut pasta was added. Also during those years, the factory was equipped with a modern packaging system that speeded up the carton packaging process.

Starting from the early seventies, Granoro began its first advertising campaigns. Attilio Mastromauro himself took care of the image of the factory, just as he personally took care of the production, meticulously checking its quality. Soon the production, which initially reached 50 quintals per day, reached 700 quintals.

There is a pink feeling that envelopes the story of Granoro. Not only Chiara, the pillar, but also Marina and Daniela Mastromauro joined the company after taking their degree. This feminine trait is perceptible in the attention to detail and in the view of the world that is necessary in order to have the right impetus.

In 1984, the old systems and various formats were dismantled and two new lines were installed, which are still in operation today.

Years of intense work and great satisfaction. The awards appear one after another: Market Espresso, Pratica, Corriere della Sera and other press organisations recognise the brand as a guarantee of high quality.

“… The best ever. The cooking time is perfect, the consistency is ideal, the level of stickiness is excellent, the flavour is exquisite, the porosity is good and the colour is right … “- Pratica, Feb. 1993

The company plans focused on very specific standards and as a result, ISO, EMAS, IFS, BRC quality certifications, etc. were obtained. While attention was being paid to the Mediterranean Diet as an example of wholesomeness and completeness, Italy and its pasta became its flagship throughout the world.

In 1992 there was a renovation of the short cut pasta production systems with the use of technologies that for the time appeared to be state-of-the-art. “In starting up the new production system – Attilio Mastromauro himself would recall in an interview – I found that after drying, the pasta was a little dark and did not have that straw- yellow colour as per the supply contract. […]

I suggested that the owner, who was a mechanical engineer, and his four engineers, should introduce some improvements: the results were excellent because the pasta returned to its original brilliant colour”.

The “culture of healthy eating” has always been the foundation of Pastificio Granoro’s most profound ethical principles and values. The company’s efforts in researching new production technologies have never lost sight of the cardinal principle of all company production: to offer the consumer quality products for a healthy diet.

Granoro pasta packaged in the Corato plant passed from the heat of the machinery to the boxes ready to explore the world: in those years regular deliveries increased exponentially to Brazil, Australia, Canada, the USA, Japan, China, as well as all over Europe, with Germany, England and Russia, but also in the smallest village of France. A continuous cycle that radiated from Puglia to almost every destination, a stream of cartons that could be seen passing through the Granoro warehouses hour after hour, step by step.

In the early 2000s, Granoro lines were further enriched: ready-made sauces, simple, with olives, all’arrabbiata (tomato sauce spiced with hot peppers), porcini mushrooms … A quick, practical and tasty way to enrich pasta, made from tomatoes and vegetables grown in Italy and processed fresh within a few hours of harvesting to guarantee intense quality and flavour.

Granoro Bio EVO (organic extra virgin olive oil) oil was born, obtained from olives of the “Coratina” variety, a cultivar typical of the hinterland of our Corato, from which it takes its name. Hand-picked fruits, pressed with millstones and cold-pressed oil.

In the same year, the line called “Le Specialità di Attilio” (Attilio’s Specialties) was born, dedicated to the founder of the pasta factory, a quality line, pasta shapes created via rough extrusion, produced with superior quality durum wheat semolina with 14.50% protein, which allowed Granoro to enter the world of haute cuisine.

The production of our legumes began, all selected for their flavour, uniformity of colour, size and ripeness. Boiled au naturel, slightly salted, with less than 1% content.

In line with the attention to health and to a healthy diet and collaboration with research institutes, the “Cuore Mio Bio” line was born in 2010, produced by mixing raw materials 100% grown in Italy via organic farming, using quality durum wheat semolina with the flour of a particular barley cultivar, with a high content of beta-glucan, a soluble fibre that helps to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood.

The attention to the respect for quality nutrition was confirmed with the birth of the “BIO” (organic) wholemeal pasta, only Italian wheat, stone hulled, ground whole with wheat germ.

For his constant research on product innovation as well as on process innovation, in May 2014 Attilio Mastromauro was awarded the Gold Seal from the University of Bari, which is named after Moro himself.

The results of the research begun in 2012, funded by Granoro and carried out by the Institute of Life Sciences of the Sant’Anna School of Pisa with the aim of thoroughly investigating the functional properties of pasta enriched with barley beta-glucans, were presented at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona and then in the scientific journal “Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine”. The contribution of beta-glucans can help people “repair” their heart. Cuore Mio Bio is good for you and grows!

This is what a famous Italian proverb says, and we know that. In 2016 we expanded our range of flours with type “1” flour and the multigrain preparation with natural sourdough starter.

In the presence of the Member of Parliament  Maria Fida Moro, daughter of the former Prime Minister Aldo Moro, who inaugurated the pasta factory, Granoro celebrated its 50th anniversary on January 21st, 2017!

A milestone, certainly prestigious, but not the end of the road.

The first pasta factory in Italy for the production of Organic Pasta in 1998 and the first to choose recyclable PAPER packaging in 2018