De Rica Tomatoes history begins at the oldest tomato transformation facility in the vicinity of Piacenza, on one of the many country roads near the town of San Polo di Podenzano. The company was started in 1912 with just 20 workers, but from 1921 to 1932 the plants were enlarged through the efforts of Giuseppe Bianchi, the owner at the time.
Development continued over the years, despite the Second World War. The structures were again made larger, that with the addition of warehouses, went from 6,000 to 16,000 square meters.
In 1953, the future of De Rica was marked by the success of the first mechanical tomato peeling process, with the related jump in production levels. This led to reaching markets outside of Italy, like the UK, Germany, North America and Japan.
In 1957, the enterprise was acquired by Luigi Tononi, and the brand took off even further. Distribution in the Italian market and abroad met with new successes as highly competitive commercial and communication policies were introduced. De Rica celebrated its 50th birthday in 1963, and is now under the guidance of Vito Gulli as a part of the Generale Conserve group.
