Pastiglie Leone

Luigi Leone began making digestive pastilles in 1857 in Neive, a small town near Alba in Piedmont, starting with mint, cinnamon and clove flavors sold from his own shop. The business grew into an official supplier to the Italian royal House of Savoy, and among its regular customers was Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, whose fondness for the violet-flavored gummies reportedly led the confectioner to nickname them "senateurs" in his honor. In 1934, Giselda Balla Monero and her brother Celso Balla took over the company and moved production from the Alba area to Corso Regina Margherita in Turin, modernizing the packaging and marketing while keeping the original recipes. The Monero family ran the business for decades afterward, relocating manufacturing again in 2006 to a modern facility in Collegno, just outside Turin. In 2018, Michela Petronio and Luca Barilla acquired the company, pairing the historic catalogue of pastilles, gummies, gelées and licorice with newer development while preserving production methods that still rely on the same bronze moulds used throughout the company's history. A further expansion, a combined production, museum and visitor facility called "Fabbrica della Felicità," has been planned to open in Collegno. Now approaching its 170th year, Pastiglie Leone remains one of the older continuously operating confectionery houses in Europe.