The Tomato Museum houses a remarkable collection of five-kilogram preserved milk. It is an exceptional sample of the packages produced by companies active in Parma, Emilia and Italy in 1938.
But how did this unusual collection come about? From a judicial case. The company Pezziol – founded in Padua in 1840, but active in Parma since 1902 – immediately adopted the white livery for the milk of the triple concentrate, called precisely “White Brand”. This is undoubtedly an original choice, to immediately distinguish itself from the other brands, all characterised by the colours red or green.
When the company Amilcare Davoli & Figli di Rivergaro, in the province of Piacenza, put on the market a can with the trademark “Sant’Antonio” with a white background, Pezziol sued the competitor in court. The trial of first instance, celebrated in Piacenza, ended with the acquittal of the Piacenza company. However, the second degree judgement was celebrated at the Court of Appeal of Bologna and, on that occasion, Pezziol, to support its case, bought more than one hundred different boxes of preserves on the market, exhibited as documentary evidence of its thesis: the uniqueness of the color white on the national territory, the exclusive character of its brand. The Court Chancellery was thus delivered… 105 copies of milk, all regularly stamped and stamped with the date of June 1, 1938. The judge, faced with such overwhelming evidence, accepted the appeal of Pezziol, which, even today, is the only one that can boast of white cans.
Text by: Giancarlo Gonizzi