About us
FAVELLA IS A HISTORIC FARM WITH A LONG TRADITION, IMMERSED IN ONE OF THE MOST SUGGESTIVE PLACES IN ITALY, THE PLAIN OF SIBARI IN CALABRIA.
According to research and excavations conducted between 1990 and 2002 by Professor Vincenzo Tinè, the first signs of human presence on our lands date back to the 6th millennium BC (8,000 years ago). It may seem incredible, but the history of agriculture starts here, in the Plain of Sibari and exactly on our lands. When man stopped being only a hunter and fisherman, no longer limiting himself to the simple gathering of wild fruits, but beginning to cultivate, he started right here, at least in Europe. According to the research, it seems that the first European agricultural settlement, the only one for which scientific traces have been found, was right here, in Corigliano Calabro, on the lands of our company.
Our story, however, begins in the 1930s when the grandfather of Nicola Rizzo, the current owner, bought a small plot of land together with his brothers, which was then part of a larger estate owned by an ancient noble family. We were born as a pastoral farm producing wheat, a highly valuable commodity at that time. Extensive livestock farming, consisting of Podolica cattle, a native breed of southern Italy, and flocks of sheep had the function of fertilizing the land for wheat production.
The first major change was transforming a pastoral farm into a modern farm, buying Frisian cows from Canada. We then started planting citrus groves, giving an entrepreneurial turn to the company through intensive cultivation. Surrounded by the most typical Mediterranean landscape and a stone's throw from the Ionian Gulf, we continued to enhance the precious fruits that this land gives us, seeking an avant-garde production model, and already in 1970 being awarded the gold medal by the Ministry of Agriculture for the superiority of cattle breeding.
Always under the guidance of the Rizzo family, we have grown over the years to reach today's size. Our company has 5 million in agricultural revenue and another 5 million in energy revenue. We have a total of 420 hectares (of which 5 are cultivated with vegetables, greens, aromatic herbs, and spices; 45 with rice fields; 55 with citrus groves; 16 with olive groves; 250 with forage for livestock). We have 30,000 goji plants, 700,000 liters of milk processed per year, 80,000 kg of cardoncello mushrooms produced, 1.5 million kg of citrus fruits, and 40,000 kg of rice. We have a herd of 700 buffaloes and 240 hectares for forage, gardens, rice fields, citrus groves, and olive groves with which we produce delicious dairy products and surprising delights in oil.
Our products are distributed in selected retail outlets in Italy and around the world, but also and above all online on our website.
The first major change was transforming a pastoral farm into a modern farm, buying Frisian cows from Canada. We then started planting citrus groves, giving an entrepreneurial turn to the company through intensive cultivation. Surrounded by the most typical Mediterranean landscape and a stone's throw from the Ionian Gulf, we continued to enhance the precious fruits that this land gives us, seeking an avant-garde production model, and already in 1970 being awarded the gold medal by the Ministry of Agriculture for the superiority of cattle breeding.
Always under the guidance of the Rizzo family, we have grown over the years to reach today's size. Our company has 5 million in agricultural revenue and another 5 million in energy revenue. We have a total of 420 hectares (of which 5 are cultivated with vegetables, greens, aromatic herbs, and spices; 45 with rice fields; 55 with citrus groves; 16 with olive groves; 250 with forage for livestock). We have 30,000 goji plants, 700,000 liters of milk processed per year, 80,000 kg of cardoncello mushrooms produced, 1.5 million kg of citrus fruits, and 40,000 kg of rice. We have a herd of 700 buffaloes and 240 hectares for forage, gardens, rice fields, citrus groves, and olive groves with which we produce delicious dairy products and surprising delights in oil.
Our products are distributed in selected retail outlets in Italy and around the world, but also and above all online on our website.
Dagli anni 30 agli anni 70
La nostra storia, invece, inizia negli anni ’30quando il nonno di Nicola Rizzo, l’attuale proprietario, comprò insieme ai fratelli un piccolo lotto di terreno, all'epoca parte di un latifondo più grande di proprietà di un'antica famiglia nobile. Siamonati come azienda agricola pastoraleche produceva grano, in quegli anni bene di altissimo valore. La zootecnia, estensiva, fatta di podoliche, razza autoctona del sud Italia, e di greggi di pecore aveva la funzione di concimare i terreni per la produzione del grano.
Dagli anni 70 agli anni 2000
Il primo grande cambiamento fu trasformare un’azienda agricola pastorale in un allevamento moderno, andando a comprare le vacche Frisone in Canada. Cominciammo poi a piantare gli agrumeti, dando una svolta imprenditoriale all’azienda attraverso una coltivazione intensiva e naturale. Circondati dal più tipico paesaggio mediterraneo e a due passi dal Golfo Jonico, abbiamo continuato avalorizzare i preziosi frutti che questa terra ci dona, ricercando un modello produttivo all’avanguardiae già nel 1970 venendo premiati con la medaglia d’oro del Ministero dell’Agricoltura per la superiorità dell’allevamento di bovini.
Dagli anni 2000 ad oggi
Sempre sotto la guida della famiglia Rizzo, siamo cresciuti negli anni raggiungendo la dimensione odierna. La nostra è un’azienda con 5 milioni di fatturato agricolo e altri 5 milioni di fatturato energetico. Abbiamo in tutto 420 ettari (di cui 5 coltivati ad ortaggi, verdure, erbe aromatiche e spezie; 45 a risaie; 55 ad agrumi; 16 ad uliveti; 250 a foraggi per il bestiame). Abbiamo 30 mila piante di goji, 700 mila litri di latte lavorato all’anno, 80 mila kg funghi cardoncelli prodotti, 1 milione e mezzo di kg di agrumi e 40 mila kg di risone. Contiamo un allevamento di 700 bufale e 240 ettari per foraggi, orti, risaie, agrumeti ed oliveti con cui produciamo squisite bontà casearie e sorprendenti delizie sott’olio.
I nostri prodotti sono distribuiti in selezionati punti vendita in Italia e nel mondo, ma anche e soprattutto online sul nostro sito.
