Organizers for ISM have announced Luigi Zàini, CEO of the medium-sized Italian sweets company Luigi Zàini S.p.A., as the winner of the 2022 ISM Award for his service to the sweets and snacks industry.

Luigi Zàini S.p.A. produces and sells cocoa and sugar-based products. The sales network of Zàini products covers all of Italy, and they are exported to more than 80 countries worldwide. The company employs around 200 people in the three Milan-based production sites and at the logistic platform in Pavia.

With his sister Antonella Zàini, Luigi Zàini runs the company today as the third generation. Luigi Zàini S.p.A. has exhibited at every edition of ISM since its premiere in 1971.

"I am literally thrilled at receiving this distinction, which is an honor for the company, for my sister and for me personally,” Luigi Zàini said. “My thoughts go immediately to all of the people who have been working for Zàini for generations and who, together with our business partners, have significantly contributed towards the company's success story. I would like to dedicate this prize to all of these people."

Founded in 1913, Luigi Zàini has made diversity one of its guiding principles. The founder, Luigi Zàini, asked himself: "All people are different, so why don't we create different chocolate and sweets for everyone?"

Ever since, Zàini products have come in different shapes and colors, packed in elegant boxes or colourful, retro tins. Over the course of time, sugar-free versions or chocolate fruits have been added to the range of traditional Italian products.

The Emilia extra-dark block chocolate line is the special gem of the sweets company. It stands out with its valuable recipe, which has remained unchanged over the years and which is used today for the production of chocolate desserts. The dark block chocolate was named after the nanny of the Zàini sons in the 1950s, who enabled their mother to go back to work full time after the early death of Luigi Zàini.

At the time, Olga Zàini was one of the few business women in the industry. Her innovative vision shaped the company long-term: Equality is still an important and non-negotiable corporate value at Zàini S.P.A. today.

Luigi Zàini is also well-known for child-friendly chocolate, by producing chocolate eggs filled with collectable toys of licenses loved by children and cocoa products and spreads containing cereals low in sugar and fats.

Since 2019, Zàini has been asserting itself for women and for the equality of the sexes on the Ivory Coast: In collaboration with Cocoa Horizons, the company supports the sustainable cultivation of high-quality cocoa in order to enable the people in the region better living conditions, and specifically women, thanks also to a project focused on a female entrepreneurial activity.

The presentation of the ISM Award will take place during the ISM dinner on Jan. 30. Dr. Massimo Garavaglia, CEO of the De' Longhi Group, will hold the laudation. The jury of the ISM Award is composed of international representatives from the industry, trade and world of science.