Raised in the beautiful city of Cologna Veneta, in the Veneto region of northern Italy, Giovanni joined his brothers at the bakery in nearby San Giovanni di Lupatoto at the age of 13. It was not long before Giovanni’s entrepreneurial streak appeared. Seeing that women were working outside the home more and no longer had time to make dough, he started delivering his bread door to door. He then had the bright idea of making tortelloni – daring to take on the mothers and grandmothers of Verona at their own game! Soon, he delivered his lovely freshly filled pasta all over the region from a basket on the back of his little red Moto Guzzi bike until demand became too great for him to manage alone.
In 1962, Pastificio Rana opened its doors. Giovanni’s business quickly expanded from a one-man band to an artisan business, with several co-workers joining him around his long floured table. Using the same authentic ingredients as Italian mothers and grandmothers – local eggs, Parmigiano Reggiano, the best Parma ham and the fabulous produce found in Italy’s finest delis – demand for Giovanni’s pasta grew and grew.
Frustrated by the limits imposed by the small pasta machines available, Giovanni worked with local engineers and mechanics to develop new devices that could produce pasta even better than he could. A huge leap forward requiring serious investment but the results speak for themselves Production rose from fifteen kilograms of tortellini an hour to hundreds of kilograms an hour – a bit too much for the basket on his motorbike…
Come 1971, Pastificio Rana moved to its now current home, back in San Giovanni Lupatoto, with Giovanni moving in next door to ensure his high standards never slip. With Rana firmly established as Italy’s favourite, Giovanni’s son Gian Luca decided it was time to look further afield and bring the rest of Europe into the Rana family. Fast forward to 2000, Rana becomes one of the most loved pasta brands in Europe and continues its growth by entering the US market and conquering American’s hearts and stomachs.
In 2019 Rana arrived in New Zealand. With a fresh new look focusing on family, tradition and true flavour Rana was brought to an even wider audience, drawing more people into the Rana family.