SALOV tasks Giulio “Rosk” Gebbia with decorating 5 tanks at the Massarosa plant: the Cisterne d’Autore (Designer Tanks) project is underway

24 September 2020  - Corporate

SALOV tasks Giulio “Rosk” Gebbia with decorating 5 tanks at the Massarosa plant: the Cisterne d’Autore (Designer Tanks) project is underway

Massarosa – September 24, 2020 – On September 18, the SALOV Group’s “Cisterne d’Autore” (‘Designer Tanks’) project began. The project sees the involvement of the well-known street artist Giulio “Rosk” Gebbia who will decorate 5 of SALOV’s tanks, which are used to collect water from the oil production process.

SALOV, a world leader in the production and distribution of edible oils – whose plant is located in Massarosa (Lucca), within the Migliarino-San Rossore pre-park area, surrounded by Lake Massaciuccoli – has decided to commission Giulio Rosk, world famous artist, to decorate its tanks. The intention is that they should not just be a necessary tool for industrial processing, but also a true ‘open-air canvas’ capable of being integrated into the surrounding landscape in perfect harmony, thus helping to bring art and beauty both inside and outside the production site.

The artistic project contributes to enriching the company’s hub, which sees in the Massarosa plant and Villa Filippo Berio, in Vecchiano, a nucleus where olive oil is at the centre of everything.

“The Cisterne D’Autore project makes me very proud. We really wanted this because I believe in the power of beauty as a core value, one which should be promoted as far as possible in our day-to-day life,” commented Fabio Maccari, CEO of the SALOV Group. “Being able to use art to transform objects that were made for an industrial purpose and making them fit into the surrounding landscape is something that is very consistent with our path towards sustainability, which involves us making a commitment on a social level as well as an environmental level. In fact, this project contributes to creating value and beauty for the benefit of the employees who spend time at the plant every day, which is a home both to us and the brand itself.”

The 5 fibreglass tanks, about 10 meters high with a diameter of 4 meters, will be decorated with a graffiti technique combining figurative painting with street art. The artist, Rosk, is well known for a number of works including a mural depicting the judges Falcone and Borsellino, made with his colleague Loste in Palermo.

“I am happy to be working on the tank project,” commented Giulio “Rosk” Gebbia. “It feels good to work for people who want to make beauty an additional asset for the economy. SALOV is giving me the opportunity to create a piece that pays homage to labour understood as hard work, pride and a sense of belonging to the land. Street art allows me to get what I do across to everyone: it is democratic and free, it belongs to the environment and to those who live in it, pass through it and maybe decide to stop. An industrial space can have a human aspect to it, that is what my work will bring and this is a beautiful thing.”

The artistic project will depict images that distinguish the company and its historical brands Filippo Berio and Sagra on the tanks. In particular, they will portray the face of Filippo Berio, the founding father of the company’s premium brand, which is exported to almost 80 countries around the world; Filippo Berio’s original signature, found on the labels of all his products; the image of the two Filippo Berio and Sagra bottles, and, finally, the golden olive tree that features on the Filippo Berio labels destined for the Italian market.
The work is expected to last approximately 5-6 weeks.

The SALOV Group was founded in 1919 by Filippo Berio’s daughter, Albertina, and a number of Tuscan industrialists who together have pursued Filippo Berio’s vision: to promote quality olive oil around the world. The group is based in Massarosa, in the province of Lucca, and is among the largest companies in the olive oil sector with a consolidated net turnover in 2019 of approximately 275 million euros and 91 million litres sold. Since 2015 it has been a part of the Bright Food Group.
The SALOV Group, which has always been present on the Italian market with the famous Sagra brand, launched the Filippo Berio brand for the first time in Italy at the end of 2019, already a well-established brand worldwide and currently market leader in the USA, UK and Russia, as well as in Belgium, Holland and Switzerland. Filippo Berio has a dedicated range for Italy, one capable of responding to an increasingly demanding consumer in terms of quality and above all traceability and sustainability. In fact, thanks to the Filippo Berio Method, each phase of the production process is traceable and certified, starting from the field and the application of integrated production techniques.