Pangea

12 August 2015 Off By Pastaria

An artisanal business in Castelfranco Veneto (Italy) specialized in the production of gluten-free dry pasta (also organic) made using corn, white corn, rice, buckwheat and quinoa.

The refined palate of a typical Italian has a tendency to erroneously believe that the only kind of pasta worthy of the name is that made from durum wheat and that everything else – products made with variations to the main ingredients – can only be classed as a second-rate substitute for the real thing. Nothing could be more wrong! The Pangea pasta factory has in fact managed to prove, even to the most staunch traditional dry pasta lovers, that not only are valid alternatives possible but they are also more than enjoyable to eat.

It was 2009 when the 4 partners of the company we are about to talk to you about decided to undertake a business path which places one of the products Italy is most famous for in the world at the heart of its production, but with the intention of making it edible for all those people (continuously growing in numbers) who have special dietary requirements. Consequently it all started to give a wider range of choice to those who need to follow a specific diet due to problems linked to intolerance, allergies or other various pathologies. The desire to offer more and more products and better quality has made it possible to perfect the product over time, increasing the range and taking care of production to a point where today we can talk about top quality functional foods which are every bit as good as the traditional products of local gastronomic culture, but with the added benefit of being exceptionally light and easy to digest.

The Pangea pasta factory is specialized in the production of gluten-free, 100% natural pasta using corn, white corn and rice flours. For some pasta shapes quinoa and buckwheat are also used and, in some case, all organic raw materials.

Production is artisanal. In fact the quantities manufactured average 1,600 kg/day and people play an important part in the production process. The machines used are the result of thirty years of experience. The family which owns the limited liability company which runs the pasta factory has in fact been operating in the pasta manufacturing machinery sector for over three decades and it is this background in the sector which led to the idea of creating a pasta factory which would take into account the growing needs of a market share which cannot eat products containing gluten.

But the Pangea pasta factory in Castelfranco Veneto has not limited itself to manufacturing pasta which is simply gluten-free. Pangea pasta also has no additives, no coloring, no preservatives, no thickeners, no raising agents, no emulsifiers or GMOs, in some cases it is also organic and it is always bronze-drawn.

The production process is also artisanal and imposes long drying times at low temperatures to ensure the organoleptic properties of the cereals remain intact. The secret lies in the quality of the raw materials, in the high level of performance of the machinery as well as in having found the right mix which makes it possible to perfectly combine processing and taste.

The result is a product which is pleasing to the eye and excellent to taste. The catalogue offers a wide range of different types of corn, rice, corn & rice, white corn, rice & quinoa and corn & buckwheat pasta. The raw materials are almost exclusively Italian except for some ingredients, such as the buckwheat which comes mainly from Austria and the quinoa which comes from South America. Apart from giving preference to local products when choosing raw materials, the Pangea pasta factory always selects the best quality products available on the international market when procuring anything which does not come from Italy.

The company operates mostly under private labels with a market reference which stands in the medium-high bracket. In Italy it is available therefore mainly under third-party brand names. Abroad it uses its own brand name. [hidepost]

The formats available are some of the most varied and are usually presented in 250-g and 500-g packs, with 4-kg packs available for the HO.RE.CA. channel.

Two aspects guide the owners of the Pangea pasta factory in their daily work: the quality of the raw materials and the concept of functional foods. All the gluten-free cereals are expertly mixed and combined to give the best result in terms of flavor but without losing sight of the main aim which is the part the food must play in improving the psycho-physiological wellbeing of the end consumer and reducing the risk of triggering any pathologies.

Gluten-free production, which was once the privilege of large industries (mainly foreign) and elitist distribution channels, which were not within everyone’s reach, has finally also become artisanal. And it has been done in the best meaning of the word. In fact Pangea products not only cover the energy needs of macro- and micronutrients and contribute to preventing and staving off the onset of certain pathologies, but they also have the best features an artisanal product has to offer: careful selection of the raw materials, obsessive attention to the production process and a love and passion for production are all elements which cannot lead to anything but a food which is not only healthy but also delicious.

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