He is considered the father of food and wine tourism, and his name is inextricably linked to the Alba White Truffle Fair. We are talking about Giacomo Morra, born in 1899, with a career in catering and undoubtedly a visionary entrepreneur and trendsetter.
The potential of truffles
In the early 1920s, Morra moved from Alba, his hometown, to Turin, where he opened a restaurant and a wine shop. Here, he began to understand the potential of Alba’s white truffles, much appreciated by customers who were willing to spend a lot for this delicacy. In the Langhe, the trifulau (truffle hunters) sold them at low prices.
The origin of the Alba White Truffle Fair
Back in Alba, he began working on promoting the truffle, and in 1929, on the occasion of the Grape Harvest Festival, he created an event dedicated to this delicacy. The event became increasingly important until, in 1933, it took the name of “Truffle Fair,” and, in the same year, the New York Times crowned Morra “King of truffles.”
Morra, in fact, soon understood the suggestive potential of a product such as truffles and had the idea of enlisting the greatest ante litteram “influencers” on the market, giving the precious tuber to personalities such as Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Alfred Hitchcock, Ike Eisenhower and Sofia Loren, among others.
Truffle marketing
In 1930, Giacomo founded Tartufi Morra, the first company dedicated to the marketing and transformation of Alba White Truffles. He managed to develop a system for preserving truffles, and being a skilled restaurateur, he invented many appetizers to make the most of the precious tuber. In 1948, the fresh and preserved truffles produced by Tartufi Morra arrived in America.
Truffles and charity
Today the Alba White Truffle Auction is a highly prestigious media event that has been held since 1999 at the Grinzane Cavour Castle and has been broadcast in live streaming since the dawn of the Web. During this auction, truffles and some of the finest local wines are auctioned off, and the funds raised are donated to charity. Since 1999, more than 5 million euros have been raised and allocated to various projects in Italy and around the world.
Congratulations to those who brought the Alba truffle and Made in Italy to the world!