The Ciao Method
IL POMODORO DI NAPOLI
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation: excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”
Aristotele
EXCELLENCE
A simple recipe
Excellence has a simple recipe. The Ciao method is based on a series of well-defined phases and rules:
- careful selection of raw materials
- short distance between fields and our processing plant
- rigorous and continuous quality control along the entire agricultural supply chain
Ciao – il pomodoro di Napoli brings the best of Southern Italian tradition to tables all over the world with cutting-edge processing and preservation methods that have become a quality standard.
TOMATO AND SOUTHERN ITALY
An endless, never-ending story
The heart of our production are the tomatoes from Southern Italy, in particular the Roma and San Marzano varieties which are grown on the slopes of Vesuvius Volcano and in the South of our peninsula.
The long love story between the tomato and Southern Italy stems from the care of the farming of a thousand-year-old peasant art and from the painstaking wisdom of the southern housewives who have always worked and preserved the tomato at home.
Our philosophy is inspired by their legacy, to which we have added innovative methods and top notch technologies.
THE CIAO METHOD
Many phases, the one and only quality standard: the Ciao method
CAREFUL SELECTION OF SUPPLIERS
Our quality control starts from the field: we carefully select our suppliers and ensure the quality of their selection of seeds and plots of land where to grow tomatoes.
CONTROL FROM SOWING/PLANTING TO HARVEST
We follow the growth trend of the fruits from sowing to harvesting which takes place in the months of July, August, September and October.
EXCELLENT SHIPPING
The tomatoes are gathered and appropriately deposited in bins of 300 kg each in order to preserve their organoleptic characteristics during transport by truck from the field to our Mercato San Severino plant.
PRELIMINARY TESTS AND SCREENINGS
Upon arrival at our factory, the first sample tests are carried out on the raw fruits: the tests consist of physico-chemical, morphological and organoleptic analyses. For each batch, the proportions between ripe, yellow/green and damaged fruits are studied. Their average dimensions are then calibrated on a sample basis.
PROCESSING WITHIN 6 HOURS
The raw material is first processed within six hours of entering our factories: the golden rule that guarantees us to can the tomatoes with their full freshness and aroma.
TESTS AND CHECKS EVERY 30 MINUTES
The technical staff of our laboratory takes product samples every 30 minutes, at each stage of the production process to monitor the physical and chemical characteristics, for a total of two checks every hour per processing stage, whether it is a whole product and therefore the peeled, either diced or pulped.
The check takes place every 30 minutes also on the tomato juice line (twice an hour).
The laboratory writes down and records the quality standard of CIAO IL POMODORO DI NAPOLI, verifying both that the final product falls within the standard and that the entire production process works correctly.
COMPLIANCE WITH QUALITY STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATIONS
Product analyzes must strictly comply with certified quality and safety standards including BRC, ISF, FSMA, HALAL, KOSHER.
For the organic and San Marzano products of the Sarnese-Nocerino DOP region/area, the checks are supported by certifying bodies in compliance with the control devices defined for each product.
Throughout the production process, the laboratory also carries out continuous checks on the temperatures and pressures of the processing plants.
Once the product has been canned, further analyzes are carried out for each batch by an external ACCREDIA certified laboratory.
FINAL CHECK AND QUARANTINE
The finished product is also checked twice an hour before being placed in quarantine awaiting the results of the stability tests and therefore its commercial/selling safety. Only after this phase the product is ready to be labeled and packaged.
CAREFUL AND PROPER PACKAGING
The packaging is also subjected to careful tests in our laboratory to guarantee the correctness of the wording and the coding of the cans in compliance with the laws and regulations of the single legislations of all the countries where we do export to, each with its own requirements,
GREEN
NOT GREENWASHING
Love means respect: this is why the link between CIAO IL POMODORO DI NAPOLI and its land is expressed in a scrupulous green policy.
With a production that has tripled in the last ten years and a intensity of emissions halved, we are among the main sustainable companies in Southern Italy.
And here’s why:
- We produce our electricity through solar panels
- We purify the processing water to re-enter it several times into the production process
- We package our products with recycled paper and cardboard
- We store our tomatoes in recyclable and endlessly reusable cans
- We continuously dedicate ourselves to training on technologies to protect the environment
- We equip our factories with the most modern systems, updating and replacing the machinery every 2 years to optimize efficiency and consumption.
