CALLIPO

It was 14 January 1913 when 'Giacinto Callipo' was founded in Pizzo with a notarial deed by Don Giacinto Callipo, merchant and 'shipowner of paranzi', great-grandfather of Filippo Callipo, current chairman of the Callipo Group. One of the first in Italy and Europe to box the prized bluefin tuna, the company has been able to take up the legacy of a millenary Mediterranean tradition, that of the 'tonnare fisse', rooted in the Vibonese and Calabria area.

Throughout the 20th century, five generations of the Callipo family of entrepreneurs succeeded in combining tradition and innovation, creating a leading brand that has become one of the 'noble faces' of southern Italy.

That notarial deed, the portrait of the founder, a rich gallery of prints and precious period photos of the family and the 'tonnaroti' at work, and the Patent of 'Official Supplier of the Royal House' granted in 1926, are the documents that form the core of the company museum currently being set up.

The Callipo family also jealously guarded other important 'pieces' to be made available to the public, such as a model of one of the most important 'pizzitane' tuna nets, tools of the 'tonnaroti' (tuna fishermen), an extremely rare booklet-'secret code' that the raìs used to communicate from the tuna net with ship-owners, and a historical repertoire of company photos and colourful tin boxes.