It is nothing new that female entrepreneurs in our country are (unfortunately) rare and, therefore, precious, a bit like the precious Olga Urbani’s truffles. Olga is an Umbrian entrepreneur from Spoleto, born in ’63, the backbone of the Urbani Tartufi Gruppo, a Made in Italy company that has been pulling out, processing and exporting truffles and truffle products around the world for six generations, 170 years.
International calling
The history of Urbani Tartufi began back in 1852, when Costantino Urbani, from the heart of Umbria, began exporting fresh truffles to Provence and Germany, thus spreading the culture, consumption and demand for this undoubtedly special food. An activity that was born with an international vocation and was continued successfully by the descendants, Carlo (Olga’s grandfather) and then by his sons, Bruno and Paolo. And it was Paolo, as a deep connoisseur of this hypogean mushroom, already known four thousand years ago, who started its industrial processing.
From Umbria to the heart of Manhattan
But it is in particular Olga Urbani – in June named Cavaliere del Lavoro by Sergio Mattarella – Paolo’s only daughter and his only heir, who transformed (together with her uncle Bruno) the Made in Italy family business into an international holding company. It was his idea to endow Urbani Truffles USA with a prestigious headquarters in the heart of Manhattan, complete with a Lab and Truffle Academy. Not an easy achievement, considering that Paolo Urbani, the first of the family to start the business overseas, used to write letters home asking to return because in the U.S., everyone was convinced that truffles were just ice cream!
Fortunately, times have changed, and today, Urbani Worldwide Travel Tour runs trips dedicated to getting to know the world of truffles up close, especially after UNESCO added truffle hunting and extraction in Italy to the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Truffleland: the future of truffles
But the world of truffles is not all sunshine and roses: it is threatened by several factors, ranging from climate change to the overexploitation of truffle fields to the abandonment of mountainous territory, resulting in the thickening of forests. For these reasons, the younger generation of the Urbani family started Truffleland, a truffle project that involves recovering uncultivated land for those who choose to devote themselves to creating truffle plantings and provides cutting-edge advice on how to manage the business. The idea of Truffleland was born during the pandemic, precisely to counter the threats to which this hypogean fungus is subjected and give a future to the professions related to it.
Business, heart and solidarity
Olga Urbani is also the creator of the Urbani Truffle Academy. This gastronomic technology centre is a point of reference for all chefs in the world, and she wanted to create the Urbani Truffle Museum, in memory of her beloved father, which welcomes visitors from all over the world. The entrepreneur, however, does not limit herself to being a successful businesswoman; in fact, she places great importance on her commitment to social work, and she has just become president of the Giulio Loreti Onlus Foundation. This important and renowned non-profit organisation has, for years, supported the examinations and treatment of cancer patients with financial difficulties.
Today, Urbani Tartufi, based in Valnerina (PG), holds 70 per cent of the world truffle market, employs more than 300 people, exports to 70 countries worldwide, and has a turnover of tens of millions of euros!
Congratulations to those who put their hearts into it and bring the truffle and Italy to the world!
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