COMPOST 100% Italiano
On 7 May 2016, the Mattozzi family celebrated the 50th jubilee of compos- ting company Funghitex. This milestone was marked in style with a spec- tacular party organised at the site of the plant in Velletri, some 45 minutes’
drive south of Rome. The event was attended by more than 800 guests. By Jos Hilkens, AdVisie
T
he guests were welcomed by the Mattozzi family and plenty of wonderful memories were relived and shared. After various speeches, the award of a number of certificates and a blessing ceremony by the local bishop, the grounds next to the tunnel company hosted a pageant featuring banner wavers and a traditio- nal ring tilting contest between six horsemen in regional costumes. The guests were also treated to some culinary delights, including a true Roman delicacy – stuffed artichokes roasted in
hot ashes. Eating fresh beans is another special tradition, with the beans served whole in the pod for the guests to pop open and enjoy. Funghitex also served up some superior quality red and white local wines. Many customers and guests would like to have had a tour of the composting plant, but this did not feature on the programme.
1966 until present Funghitex was established in 1966 at its current location and started producing compost and mushrooms. The company was founded by Franco Mattozzi with other 3 people. Four years later, in 1970, Bruno Francescutti joined the group and the company started pasteurising compost in tunnels and selling compost in bags. Three years later Franco Mattozzi left Funghitex and started up Magnifung with Remo Azzola. A production plant that in 1990 prepared 800 tons of mushroom compost and oyster mushroom substrate pro week. They built their first mushroom farm (MAC) in 1977, and in 1983 they kept the control of a second mushroom farm (Fungicoltura del Circeo) for white mushroom production. Both farms are still active. Fungi- coltura del circeo is one of the biggest in Italy. From 1980 to 1983, Franco Mattozzi was president of the association for Italian mushroom growers,” AIF”. In 1987 Funghidea was founded as a trading company to sell mushrooms. The company relocated to new, larger premises in 2012.
Owners Franco Mattozzi and son Mario. 34 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
In 2000 Franco Mattozzi and Remo Azzola kept the control of Funghitex. In 2001 part of the production shifted from phase II to phase III compost and production reached 400 tons of compost per week. In 2004, three bunkers were built and fermentation took place indoor. Franco Mattozzi‘s son, Mario, joined the company as its bookkeeper. Production incre- ased to reach 600 tons of phase III compost per week. In the period between 2007 and 2010,
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