Enterprises as an engine for creating value in the territory
Rana: we improve through symbiosis and skills transfer
By Massimo Mamoli - Editor-in-chief daily L'Arena
Excerpt from the article published in the daily L'Arena on June 6, 2024
A source of pride for the country, an ambitious project that aims to make enterprises a bridge to the future. Enterprises as social cells to create value. A project that has the Arena of Verona as its temple. A unicum in the world of opera, represented by the 67 columns, that virtuous union of private and public that also this special year stands in support of the Arena festival. A project driven by the momentum of its founders and ambassadors, Gian Luca Rana, CEO of Pastificio Rana, and Sandro Veronesi, president of Oniverse.
Credits: Photo Giorgio Marchiori / Larena.it
“The Arena,” said Undersecretary for Culture Gianmarco Mazzi on March 8 at the start of the new edition of the 67 Columns project,” has know-how like no other in the world to realize in excellence the great opera productions. In these editions of the project, you have had the opportunity to touch upon the value of the human capital that works, in the Italian artisan talent at each performance that makes the Arenian season world-famous. This too is a heritage, not intangible but material that makes Made in Italy unique in the world. How does this, for you entrepreneurs and ambassadors from food to fashion and beyond, become the added value?
RANA: There is an important aspect of our being entrepreneurs, a distinguishing trait that makes the difference: it is the concept of the artisan, of "having our hands in the dough"—the original element from which our businesses started. It is learning through symbiosis, a transfer of skills. The artisan's workshop is where arts and crafts are exchanged, generating an understanding of what is happening around us. This is what we bring abroad—our cultural distinctiveness. It represents a substantial difference between those who tackle any job by looking at all aspects of it and those who, instead, have a narrow focus on a specific area.
Within us is a diffuse competence, a way of thinking that views the whole process, which is not limited to a specific approach but integrates different perspectives. This makes us unique. Let us not forget the manual skills, often underestimated, which instead deserve to be rediscovered. These skills, deeply rooted in the excellence of our country, contain and preserve a profound nobility that represents our way of being and acting.
We fully participate in the life of Verona, even outside our specific role as publishers. This is part of the obsession I mentioned earlier. What we are creating is a historical milestone that will stand the test of time. The path we have marked is taking on exemplary value, so much so that our crowdfunding has already become a model capable of inspiring numerous foundations and institutions in Italy and around the world, as well as future generations. It remains an indelible mark of a common will to engage in collective life in a purposeful way, in the service of civil society. On the contrary, if an activity allows only the growth of the individual, it will soon be forgotten. What we are creating is a project destined to last forever—a connecting link.
VERONESI: We have been supporting the Arena Foundation for nearly two decades. We decided to support the 67 Columns project from the very beginning because we were convinced that it would be another important step in making our city and its amphitheater even better known. Four years later, we can say that we are satisfied with how this project has been able to achieve increasingly challenging results. This is evident both in the steady growth of membership, which includes companies and entrepreneurs united by the desire to be part of a cultural, economic, and social initiative of international scope, and in the form of gratitude, in terms of notoriety and economic return, to our territory.
This centrality for our city is a great responsibility. One piece of advice, as entrepreneurs, that you give, as you also look and work in the world outside its walls, that you want to give to the city you love so that it becomes more and more a heritage of the world?
RANA: Great successes always have great dreams at their core. Dreams must be stimulating, far-reaching, and precious. We must always set ourselves high goals—ambitious in a positive sense—without settling for easy-to-achieve, short-term dreams. We must set ourselves goals that look far ahead, to hand over to future generations a better city and a better Italy. We must be a great inspiration to make our city, Italy, and the world different and better.
To bring together the best qualities of each person, breaking down and recomposing the various parts, smoothing out any limits, and enhancing the diversity of skills.
Listening to the tales of the Arena's artisans, I was struck by the fact that, from the smallest details, they can get a complete view of the entire set. They can see it already finished as they make it. Drawing a parallel with my own world, I would say that it is precisely from observing the details that you can discover the talents needed to realize great projects. As Shakespeare would say, “Men and women are part of this play.”
VERONESI: Like most Italians, we were born and raised surrounded by the wonders of our land, so much so that it seems almost natural to us. For us entrepreneurs, this beauty is the starting point, our distinctive trait that has made Made in Italy grow and become famous throughout the world. It is the uniqueness of our product, conceived from an idea of beauty, worked and finished "by hand," so much so that it has become something distinctive, an ambassador of our country.
In Italy, we have craftsmanship that is unique in the world, made up of attention to detail, traditions, skilled hands, and knowledge handed down. Many crafts are born from this, and recognizing their value, we must be able to make them live on over time. To do this, we need a meeting of skills—those who can pass on their wealth of experience, and those who can learn, always adding something new through study, thinking, and aptitudes.
With our entry into the “67 Columns” project, we had the opportunity to "enter the scene" and gain access to a world we knew only partially as spectators. The painstaking work of seamstresses, orchestral players, scriptwriters, extras, and all those involved in the creation of each individual work represents the true artistic heritage to be protected. Through Italian talent, it is possible to stage real works of art.
When you get this high, repeating yourself is not easy. And this year, after a hundred times the first time of the Arenian festival, surpassing oneself becomes the horizon of the new edition of the 67 columns project, which every year achieves ever greater success and co-participation. How do you interpret this challenge in the enterprise that each year is an engine of growth?
RANA: The summary is simple: throw caution to the wind! I love encouraging my team to step out of their comfort zone, because only by overcoming their limits can they face the unknown. Not everyone is ready to venture outside their comfort zone, but when this happens, a stronger, more cohesive team is built. This way, we all grow together and develop new skills. We should never settle for the boundaries we already know; we should always push further. This is the style known as “Blue Ocean Strategy,” which refers to the ability to explore unknown seas.
If I think back to my beginnings in the company... today the Rana Group has exceeded one billion in turnover, but if I had only listened to "rational" reasons, our growth would have been much less significant, contained within national borders. We would not have entered the international markets where we are successfully present today. In car racing, they say, “If you have everything under control, it means you are going slowly.” It is a maxim I often use: for me, it means not being afraid of the unknown, not being frightened by temporal and geographical limits. When I look at my business, I look beyond the immediate horizons, projecting each project into a distant future so that the company can continue to surpass itself, proving to be a relevant and significant reality for generations to come.
VERONESI: Growing means always creating new goals, striving not only to do well but to do better than what was done yesterday. In practice, it means knowing how to innovate and having the courage to make choices, sometimes even adjusting your aim along the way and learning from missteps. Opportunities are always around the corner; it’s up to us to know how to seize them. Even the recent recognition of Opera Singing as an Intangible Heritage of UNESCO can represent a new growth engine for the Arena Foundation—a new opportunity for visibility and continued self-improvement. For us at Oniverse, the daily challenge is knowing how to satisfy the needs of our customers in the 56 countries where we are present, offering them a product that meets their expectations and needs.
The 67 columns have triggered a significant economic and social impact, in the same way your businesses, also spreading culture, generate a significant social value, rooted in their territory. In what way?
RANA: As entrepreneurs, we have a duty to invest in generating new opportunities and to support culture by confidently betting on its beauty and uniqueness, as the arts have an essential social value. Bringing more and more people together around this focal point is the most effective way to exponentially multiply the value of our city, while simultaneously consolidating the identity of our company and civil society.
VERONESI: Our goal has always been to build something lasting and long-term, while respecting the surrounding social and natural environment. By supporting cultural and artistic activities like this, we can concretely enhance the territory, develop economic spin-offs, and offer new opportunities for the community to come together, creating a virtuous circle for the benefit of all.
What is the magnet, in the world of work, to bring young people and skills together today?
RANA: My two sons are the icebreakers of Rana's journey toward engaging new generations! I have entrusted my son Giovanni with scouting young talents. He consistently meets with students from schools and universities, both in Italy and the United States. He presents a company concept that promotes the aggregation of young people for project development. Young people have a lot of space in our company, and we’ve created a sort of hub called the “club dei butei” — we named it in dialect! — a space where Giovanni brings together people under 30, developing a new way of using skills, and giving ample room for listening and discussion.
My daughter Maria Sole, on the other hand, works in the area of Control & Quality and is responsible for the “Ambassadors” project. The Rana Group, although a market leader, is never completely satisfied with quality, which, being a relative concept, can always improve, grow, and go beyond. Ambassadors are those who, obsessed with improving the product, perceive it as an extension of themselves. For this reason, they work to create an environment of excellence beyond all limits, where quality is not just a technocratic parameter but a value-based, ethical one.
I asked Maria Sole, a polyglot from birth, to introduce new technologies and network all the laboratories in our Group, uniting skills and people, giving voice to a conversation that overcomes any barrier for achieving absolute, unifying quality.
The future belongs to those who started it — I always say — but we must listen to those who are facing it. Roles in Rana are quite unstructured. The idea for a new product or activity, such as sponsoring volleyball in Verona, might not come from marketing, but from feedback and opinions within various workgroups and skill sets. The choice of volleyball was a result of recognizing the volleyball environment as a place of values, an amplifier of the dreams of new generations. We wanted to make volleyball a project of aggregation, and for this reason, we offer employees and their families the opportunity to attend every match for free at the arena. There was great enthusiasm, even among those who had never seen a volleyball match.
VERONESI: For our Group, the valorization of people has always played a fundamental role in promoting the development of strong and positive human relationships. Today, young people are increasingly seeking professions that stimulate them, reflect their values, and, in a constructive and motivating way, allow them to grow and express their talents. In this direction, we strive to ensure that our company is as welcoming and stimulating as possible for all our collaborators, continually expanding the experiences and services offered over time (such as three company nurseries, a welfare program, an internal counselor, and initiatives aimed at promoting work-life balance).
We are a young company, with the average age of our employees being 30 years old. Our strength lies precisely in knowing how to combine the know-how of those who have been with us the longest with the ideas and new approaches to work of those who join us daily. I am now supported by my children, each with their own talents and aptitudes. They have brought their vision and new approaches to the company, creating new teams and innovative ways of collaborating.
Tradition and innovation also merge in Oniverse, the new name of the Group, which represents our universe made up of brands, people, and values. A heterogeneous set of different realities, but at the same time, all part of the same project.
One last question. Returning to the theme of always challenging the limit, the bar, is there anything in particular in which you would like to surpass yourself today?
RANA: I can’t say yet! My team is still amazed by the latest projects I’ve proposed to them in the kitchen... but it’s precisely through the pleasure of surpassing oneself that you grow and move forward. In the company, we have a joke when we come up with a good idea: “Okay, it’s all done.” When an idea is solid and we’re all convinced of it, all it takes is a little time and the ability to execute—everything will materialize in a flash. “It’s all done” means that once the idea is in place, the key is consistent work. Because in the end, it’s always the idea that wins.
VERONESI: For an entrepreneur, this idea of overcoming limits often coincides with the birth of new ideas and inspirations. I believe that today, for our group, which operates in different sectors (from socks and underwear to wine and sailing), surpassing ourselves means consolidating our position and expertise in each area. It is always wise to set far-sighted goals, but it is equally important to seize the opportunities that life presents. I chart a course with clear goals, but if I encounter a headwind or find a better opportunity, I change direction. I begin a journey but remain flexible, adapting to the opportunities and people I meet along the way.
