Discover the Telaragna brand: here’s our interview.

Telaragna is a project that brings together the experience, creativity, expertise, and enthusiasm of four founders. Of these four founders, three are agricultural companies and one is a social cooperative:  Semi di Sole di Tortella Monica, Società Agricola Fattoria Casa Mia di Zampini Giovanni, Società Agricola Puntorosso di Perini Pietro and Cooperativa Sociale Agespha.

Telaragna was born on May 21st, 2019, but the path towards the network enterprise began a few years earlier, when the Cooperative Agespha wanted to give a boost to services for people with disabilities; this led them to venture into the world of social agriculture by training staff and starting a practical laboratory for agriculture with adults with medium/mild disabilities. All this with the support of some entities such as the Agricultural Company Fattoria Casa Mia of Giovanni Zampini.
The excellent relationship established and subsequently the collaboration strengthened the bond between the Cooperative and the Company, making the transition to Telaragna natural.

The other entities that subsequently joined Telaragna include the Puntorosso company of Pietro Perini, who brought his expertise as an agronomist and his passion for red fruits, and the Semi di Sole company of Tortella Monica, which shares with the Cooperative Agespha the cultivation of small fruits and a passion for bees and DOP Garda oil, along with a social awareness.

Telaragna was born precisely for this reason, for the authentic relationship that binds the protagonists of this adventure, who firmly believe that the land can provide quality products if respected; the common goal is to foster a work orientation that lays the foundations in a context of opportunity and second chances.
Telaragna has an approach that seeks to combine the respect in processing raw materials with an investment in human resources, seen as an added value if they are supported in the right way and encouraged to believe in their own potential.

We like these entities, and we don't want to just focus on living their products, but we want to discover the protagonists of this brand more closely. That’s why we sent some questions to those managing communication with us.

Stay with us to learn about Telaragna: read the answers!
 

• Who are we talking to?
  I am Elisa Martini, coordinator of the network enterprise Telaragna.
   
• Is the company family-run? How many generations and from which year exactly?
  Telaragna is a network enterprise, composed of 8 network members, of which 4 are founders. It was founded on 21/05/2019, and of these 4 founders, 3 are agricultural companies and one is a social cooperative.
   
• Who was the founder? What was the founder's background or what work and professional field did they come from if different from the current one?
  The Telaragna enterprise encompasses agricultural realities and also includes a social cooperative that wanted to invest, through its secondary branch, in an inclusion project within agriculture. Therefore, the cooperative's solely assistive vocation saw the realization and development of this project as a new opportunity for people with vulnerabilities and in disadvantaged situations that it hosts.
   
• What is the real reason or triggering event behind the birth of this company and when did it happen?
  Why was Telaragna born? For the authentic relationship that binds the protagonists of this adventure, the belief that the land can provide quality products if respected, and to unite a work approach that lays the foundations in a context of opportunity and second chances. Thus, these companies see not only a respectful approach in processing raw materials, but also an investment in human resources, as an added value if supported in the right way and encouraged to believe in their own potential.
   
• What is your relationship with the land of origin and its uniqueness? And why do you want to tell this through your products?
  The proximity of the cultivated lands to the homes of the people who cultivate them is fundamental for us, as it is based on knowledge of the area itself, what it can offer, and also of feeling "at home," which makes the bond with the context even stronger. Thus, care for the raw material becomes the added value that is also found in the products that derive from it. Moreover, there is the story of the hands that have worked to make this happen; there are stories of achieved dignity and of feeling part of a process, even of personal growth and life.
   
• What was the first product you created?
  The agricultural companies already had their own production, so more than anything, our job is to bring together the excellences of each, from jams to oil, honey, and fruit juices.
   
• What is the product that you now consider "flagship"?
  More than considering any specific product as flagship, it is important to say that, since each company produces different products, we offer a variety of items under the Telaragna brand that can satisfy a wide range of customers. Starting from honey, oil, and strawberry jam, to cherry jam, ending with peach and kiwi juices, and finally peach jam. These last ones from organic farming.
   
• And what is the product that has most carried the beating heart, philosophy, and soul of the company throughout its history?
  I will answer just like I did for the previous question.
   
• Talking about today: how much has the company grown since its birth? Can we have some numbers?
  In the last year 2020-2021, 1.5 hectares were added for the construction of the greenhouse for strawberries grown above ground in Bussolengo (VR) by Semi di Sole. This allowed the creation of a quality product and especially in the context of Bussolengo, a unique product, being the first strawberry cultivation in the area, which is why it has been named "the Bussolengo strawberry", from which the jam is derived.
   
• At this moment: more tradition or more innovation?
  At this moment, there is growth and development of the Telaragna brand, making ourselves known through our history and the history of each entity that composes it. For us, the aspect of tradition is synonymous with respect for the land, which must never be forgotten, while trying to do this through techniques and methods based on listening to nature and using protective materials that can withstand weather-related challenges and potential pests.
   
• What has been the most important evolution of the company to bring it to what it is today?
  We are still on our way, having a recent history of the establishment of the network enterprise. 2020 was a significant year that saw greater internal structuring and coordination, especially in getting to know and making ourselves known as a reality and in finding commercial channels for Telaragna products.
   
• Talking about the future: what tomorrow will await the company? Is there any change or new evolutionary process planned?
  The process we expect is on two levels:
  - the increase of job opportunities for disadvantaged people or those with medium/mild disabilities;
  - to make ourselves as known as possible as a reality, not only for our products but also for the type of network enterprise that we have established, “of network,” where there aren't many similar entrepreneurial situations in Italy, and therefore to be of as much help as possible to others who want to undertake this path.
   
• Do you plan to create new products?
  We started cultivating blueberries last year, and it will definitely be a next product transformed into jam or juice along with strawberries.
   
• Having focused on Spaghetti & Mandolino, how important is online sales for you, what has your past experience been with this sales channel and how do you see it in the future?
  For us, online sales represent a new world, but we thought it was time to focus on this channel as well, which is developing and strengthening like never before today. We consider it an opportunity, and knowing that we are supported by qualified people who are close to us geographically and understand the context puts us in a position to have good hopes.
   
• Value: what has it been, what is it today, and what will it be in the future for your company?
  The network enterprise Telaragna has focused, focuses, and will always focus, being in its constitutive DNA, to place the person at the center of its actions as a starting point in working the land, in representing a reality and in believing that everyone has potential to contribute to grow the reality in which they operate.
  We can summarize this in three actions: Telaragna is based on knowing how to do, knowing how to be, and knowing how to become. 
  Knowing how to do, through the work of the land, the cultivation of raw materials, and the care of bees, sharing the knowledge and skills of each entity that operates in Telaragna.
  Knowing how to be, meaning living and witnessing one’s own unique entrepreneurial reality and together in Telaragna, belonging to them, making them a foundation for a conscious identity of an innovative and concrete project of social agriculture.
  Knowing how to become, that is, a strong drive to not remain still, but to always be ready for changes and innovations, with one eye on the past and one foot in the future horizon of the enterprise.

S&M