The Barilla Company originates from the bakery shop that Pietro Barilla Senior (1845-1912) opened in Via Vittorio Emanuele in Parma in 1877. A constant and progressive growth characterizes its history, led for four generations by the Barilla family The industrial activity, started in 1910, saw the conquest of the Italian market in the 1960s. The European expansion of the 1990s anticipates the current global leadership in the pasta market and the European one in bakery goods.

Created in 1987 according to the will of Pietro Barilla (1913-1993) in order to collect and enhance to the history of the Company, the Barilla Historical Archive preserves over 50,000 materials that include photo library, press review, specialized library, catalogs, video library, tape library, promotional and advertising material, packaging, awards, projects, correspondence and company documentation.

On 30 November 1999, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities declared the Barilla Historical Archive “of remarkable historical interest” as “a witness to the development of the food industry in Parma and the evolution of customs in Italy”, underlining its importance and consistency. The activity of the Archive opens to the world of school and research, collaborates in exhibitions, publications and tv productions and makes its heritage available to the people through a very rich internet site