Today, Menù is a point of reference in the sector of food specialties for catering, with a turnover of approximately 120 million euros and a presence in 70 countries. The company, founded in 1932 in Cavezzo, in the province of Modena, has evolved over the years, going from a small salami factory to an international giant in the production of food preparations for restaurants, pizzerias, hotels and other food service businesses. This extraordinary growth path is based on a combination of foresight, continuous innovation and a constant commitment to product quality. But how did this transformation occur? The answer lies in the ability to adapt to changes in time and the market, to anticipate trends and to maintain a strong bond with the Italian culinary tradition, without ever losing sight of the challenges of the future. Federico Masella, Marketing & National Key Account Manager Italy of Menù, talks about it in detail.
A journey lasting more than ninety years for Menù, which since the early 1930s in Cavezzo, in the province of Modena, initially established itself as a cured meat factory owned by the Barbieri family, founded by Romolo Barbieri. A factory that in its first years of life clashed with the damage and difficulties of the Second World War, suffering serious damage and remaining inactive for the entire period of the war. As soon as it ended, "Romolo Barbieri, seeing the cans of military preserves, had the intuition to start producing something inside those cans" says Federico Masella, describing how, in the post-war period, the company changed course, orienting itself towards the production of food preparations. The first great specialty was a ragù called "TUTTO", where a bit of everything was put: meat, tomato and onion, precisely because of the lean times after the war. An invention of necessity, but which marked the beginning of the company's transformation from a cured meat factory to a producer of ready-made dishes of various kinds.
In the 50s and 60s, Menù began to develop products specifically for the restaurant industry. As Masella points out: “In a somewhat architectural manner, Rodolfo Barbieri – who took over from his father, taking over the company while still in his twenties and a law student – decided to focus on the restaurant sector, even though in those years eating out was limited to small trattorias”. Rodolfo became the driving force behind the change at Salumificio, which from then on was renamed Robar. In 1967, the company created one of its most iconic products, the Cherry Tomato, a condiment based on tomatoes and vegetables, which still today maintains the same original recipe.
In 1972, the company moved to Medolla, just 5 km from its original plant, and changed its name to Menù. As Masella recalls, it was Teresa, Rodolfo's wife, who had the intuition of this name. "We were becoming the 'menu' of restaurants," she said, an idea that would become the key to future success.
Innovation and Tradition: the Pillars of Menu
Today, Menù is a symbol of excellence in the production of food for the restaurant industry, and this success is the result of a corporate philosophy that combines tradition and innovation. “Innovation allows us to always be at the forefront with products, and the part of tradition allows us to make our customers fall in love,” explains Masella.
The first cornerstone of the company is the product conception: “The first genesis of our product comes in our experimental kitchen, which is equipped with advanced technologies. The prototypes are created by our chefs, for chefs – says Masella – each new product is born from a recipe designed to satisfy the needs of catering professionals, with particular attention to the quality of the raw materials”.
The second cornerstone is in fact the careful selection of raw materials. Menù works with fresh products, choosing the best vegetables and high-quality meat, favoring seasonality and the link with the territory. “We now work with any type of vegetable, when we talk about vegetables we work everything fresh in season. We follow seasonality. We pick the vegetables at the best moment of their ripeness, we work them fresh, therefore carrying out the typical activity of a canning company. There is a careful control of the supply chains and the selection of varieties and products. This also happens with regards to the production of meat and cheese. We start only with fresh meat and only with whole cheeses that we work with in-house. The basis of our work is not to draw on already processed products”.
Returning to seasonality, “for tomatoes, for example, we work only in the month of August, harvesting the product at its best, which comes almost exclusively from Emilian crops” says Masella, highlighting the company’s strong bond with its territory. Attention to local raw materials is a distinctive element, as is the case for cheeses, where Menù only uses DOP products from the production areas.
The company has also developed Proprietary food technologies that have revolutionized the production process. “Our unique technologies, such as Aseptic and Evolution, minimize heat treatment times, allowing us to preserve the quality of the products in a superior way,” explains Masella. These technologies allow Menù to produce foods that maintain an authentic taste and superior quality, without compromising food safety. “When a product must undergo an average treatment of an hour and a half or two hours to be pasteurized, we do it in just a few minutes with the system. When a product sterilized by canning companies must undergo hours of processing, we treat it for just a few minutes with the Evolution method. These are unique technologies in the world that allow us to have product lines that are unique in the world.”
A look to the future is a careful look at sustainability for Menù. Starting with the new construction of its factory, the company has strengthened its photovoltaic system and has obviously activated water purification systems to reduce water consumption. “We have undertaken the path of the sustainability report, which will see us engaged in 2026 with a structural and long-term vision,” adds Masella, underlining the importance of respecting the environment in every phase of the production process.
Looking to the future of production, Federico Masella predicts a prosperous future and is very optimistic. “The world of out-of-home consumption will continue to grow, even if with some setbacks in recent years, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine is riding high, and our company has a wide range of products linked to the Italian culinary tradition,” says Masella. The challenge, however, does not stop at traditional cuisine. “We are also exploring new avenues, with recipes that take inspiration from ethnic influences, always maintaining a link with Italian regional traditions,” concludes Masella, underlining a vision of the future in which innovation continues to play a fundamental role.
Finally, Menù represents an example of how a company can evolve over time, in particular for its ability to constantly adapt to the times of society and the market, over the course of more than ninety years of life, while always remaining tied to tradition and anticipating changes in the market and catering.
