OUR STORY
Since the 1990s, Santo Li Vecchi has come a long way: his work has always been driven by his passion for Italian cuisine, with clear objectives and ideas to build a better future for his family. ESSEDI PASTA Ltd. was founded a few kilometers from the city center of Prato, thanks to the head of the family, Santo, who still runs the company and produces potato gnocchi with his children.
Today, ESSEDI PASTA is a limited liability company where all employees are part of the Li Vecchi family, keeping up the family tradition. The company has a production plant that has undergone several updates over the years, following the business growth.
“ A passion cultivated over time: the stages of the company growth ”
Le fasi della crescita aziendale
1958
On 12th March 1958 Santo Li Vecchi is born. From an early age he has been a true lover of traditions and craftsmanship, in fact, he starts working at 15 in order to achieve his goals.
Many years later Santo, together with his former business partner, takes over the Pastificio Pratese, a company specialized in the production of gnocchi. Meanwhile the family celebrates the arrival of Gianluca, their first-born child. His wife, besides being a mother, helps Santo in the factory.
1992
1995
Santo’s plans outdate the machinery of the factory, therefore, with the help of experts, he develops a new solution that can satisfy the growing demand of volume and variety of gnocchi. The investment is massive but it will pay off in a short time.
At the start of the new millenium the partners start to think big and they need a bigger factory. Gianluca has a 3 year old brother, Tommaso. The company headquarters are moved to Carmignano, a town near Prato.
2000
2007
The Li Vecchi family takes over the entire management of the pasta factory, changing its name to ESSEDI PASTA Ltd.. A few years later, Gianluca Li Vecchi, barely twenty years old, decides to follow in his parents’ footsteps and enters the company, bringing many innovations to the company.
Before this date the company produced gnocchi as third-party source, now it has its own brand, LO GNOCCO, a guarantee of quality and reliability. Two years later Tommaso also enters the business after obtaining a diploma in Administration, Finance and Marketing. The Li Vecchi family is finally complete.
2014
2017
A new investment in latest generation machinery allows for a significant increase in production and better cost management. Thus resulting in higher competitiveness, both in the Italian and foreign markets. Despite thinking bigger and bigger, the attention to details throughout all stages of processing is never diminished. That’s what makes LO GNOCCO quality appreciated all over the world.
The Li Vecchi brothers, Gianluca and Tommaso, manage to enter the American market and become FDA certified. More new clients means more storage space needed: the warehouse is expanded to store more raw materials and finished products.
2019
Gianluca Li VecchiAmministratore delegatoGianluca, born in 1992, is an athlete who loves sport, in particular football where he is among the most prominent Para-Olympic footballers in the country. It is no coincidence that he is currently a footballer and captain of both the Italian national seven-a-side football team for Celebrolesi and Insuperabili. Despite his hemiparesis, he sets no limits, neither in sport nor in work.In 2011 he was appointed commercial manager of the company Essedi Pasta SRL, thus also becoming passionate about cooking and in particular the production of potato gnocchi. A job to which he dedicates most of his time, while also managing to train and take care of his family, given that in 2022 he became the father of a fantastic little girl.
Tommaso Li VecchiResponsabile della logisticaTommaso, born in 1997, got his High School Diploma in Administration, Finance and Marketing in 2016 from Paolo Dagomari Institute of Technology in Prato. He is responsible for quality control, ensuring that our gnocchi comply with the high standards of LO GNOCCO brand.Tommaso is an amateur soccer player. He got his passion from his brother Gianluca who, been unable to pursue his dream because of hemiparesis, appreciates in his brother the same determination he has, not only in sports but also in carrying on the family business.
Santo Li VecchiPresidenteIn 1992 Santo decides to make the most of his passion for Italian food and, together with his former business partner, takes over the Pastificio Pratese, a Tuscan company renowned for the production of gnocchi.Since then, he has spent most of his time creating different types of potato gnocchi, improving quality and flavor more and more, allowing only a few distractions, like live entertainment and karaoke.He fulfills one of his dreams by involving his wife Angela and his sons Gianluca and Tommaso in the company Essedi Pasta Ltd.. The new company is able to combine tradition and innovation in industrial production while guaranteeing excellent quality standards.
Angela MaioResponsabile stoccaggioAngela is the youngest of her many siblings. She stands out among friends and family for her excellent cooking skills and for her search for local traditional flavors.She follows her husband in every adventure, sharing with him his many passions, like motorbike outings and karaoke.Since the set up of the company Essedi Pasta Ltd. Angela has always taken care of the warehouse for the production of potato gnocchi.
JessicaResponsabile qualitàJessica has cultivated her passion for food since adolescence, entered hotel school and graduated as a cook.During the high school year she started working as a bartender in order to continue her studies. Once concluded, she decides to follow the world of food more closely and finds work in various restaurants and most famous pastry shops in Prato. She is not new to the family as she has been engaged to Gianluca since 2008.You officially join the Lo Gnocco team in 2021, the year in which you enrolled at the University of Florence in food technology in order to offer the company greater expertise in this area.
ChiaraResponsabile produzione
Our skills
Our father Santo has passed on to us his passion and courage to innovate, and we want to keep our family traditions well rooted in the way we manage our company. Our goal is not only to make excellent tasting gnocchi, but also to produce them respecting all the values our parents have taught us, guaranteeing a scrupulous attention to every single dough.