We tell you a Family story that began… before 1988
Giuseppe Piccoli,
from Worker to Inventor
It's 1943, Giuseppe Piccoli is 11 years old and the eldest of 6 siblings when he loses his Father.
So, he leaves school and starts working in the large textile factory of the town, to help his Family.
Over the years, Giuseppe learns quickly.
He becomes skilled at his job and catches the attention of his shift chief.
He eventually obtains permission to work only in the morning shift so he can attends night school
to become an Industrial Technician.
He invents a patent for a new type of brake for textile looms which he manages to sell to a Swiss company. With the money gained, he finally manages to buy... a new coat for his mother
and a second-hand Gilera motorcycle.
Bergamo valleys and sewing machines:
a journey between
work and Family
With his motorcycle, after work, he travels through the Bergamo valleys
selling the latest Vigorelli sewing machines to the housewives who, at that time,
made their own clothes at home.
In 1957 Giuseppe marries Maria Fassi. Maria is a worker in a shirt factory and, after work,
she helps Giuseppe by teaching housewives how to use the new sewing machine
and selling them bibs and baby shirts that she makes herself.
From the home kitchen
to two factories: the extraordinary story of Giuseppe and Maria
In 1960, at the height of the economic boom, Giuseppe and Maria move to Alzano Lombardo (BG)
with their son Giulio, building a house with a workshop on the ground floor.
Here Maria, with the first workers, produces bibs, shirts, and pajamas
that Giuseppe sells. In 1963 their second son, Mauro, is born.
From 1969, with an order from a large American client, they specialize in shirts
and expand the business, reaching 200 workers in two factories by the 1980s,
collaborating with prestigious brands.
From textiles to frozen foods:
the entrepreneurial vision of Giulio Piccoli
Already in the early 1980s, competition from Asian countries began to rise,
so Giuseppe asks Giulio to look for another possible entrepreneurial outlet.
In 1982 Giulio leaves the family shirt factory and takes over a small pastry shop;
subsequently, with his wife Cinzia, he opens Piccoli S.r.l. in Ranica (BG).
Giulio immediately understands the potential of the frozen world
which was starting to make headway in those years
and slowly transforms the pastry shop into a small artisan laboratory
where he produces small pizzas, pretzels and other frozen baked products.
Thus he begins to supply ice cream distributors in northern Italy
with an old third-hand ice cream van.
the birth of G.M. Piccoli
From pizzas to croissants:
In 1987, Mauro joined Giulio in Piccoli Srl, after finishing a pizzaiolo training course.
Together, they begin selling frozen pizzas.
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Shortly after, a Milanese company proposed producing artisan frozen croissants.
Sensing the potential, in 1988, with the support of his parents, G.M. Piccoli Srl is born
in the premises of the old shirt factory in Alzano Lombardo,
with Mauro responsible for production and Giulio for the commercial side.
After the merger of the companies, Giulio died suddenly in 1989.
Mauro, with the help of his Family, continues the business.
Maria Fassi gives life to a sales point for G.M. Piccoli products,
anticipating the idea of today's "Perla Point",
a showroom where you can taste and test new products.
The diversification
and the birth of "Città Alta Qualità e Tradizione"
Having a single customer is never a good thing, so Mauro and Giuseppe
find other "co-packing" Customers and then develop their own range of traditional products
such as croissants, pastries, mini pizzas, savory snacks and pastries.
In 1996, the "Città Alta Qualità e Tradizione" brand is born,
which will follow the Company until today and which Cristina, Mauro's wife,
with meticulous and capillary work, makes known and appreciated throughout Italy.
Perla
The innovation of shapes: the success of
In 2004, Mauro realizes the importance of offering not only quality products,
but also something unique. In a world where products are all "square and round",
he invents PERLA, the first puff-pastry scallop shaped
easily recognizable to the consumer's eye and decides to patent the shape.
It is an immediate great success, sales skyrocket and finally the market notices G.M. Piccoli.
In the following years, riding the wave of this success,
other shapes are created and patented:
Volo, Foglia, Alba, Diamante and Zaffiro,
all products easily recognizable by their shape.
Family Tradition and Global Expansion:
the Transformation of G.M. Piccoli
Meanwhile, Mauro's sons Stefano and Francesca, join the company.
In 2017, Mauro founds The Perla Company USA, Inc., headquartered in Brooklyn
and wholly owned by G.M. Piccoli, which is the official importer of PERLA products in the USA.
In 2018, G.M. Piccoli becomes a public limited company.
In the following years, the Company faces challenges while maintaining its quality leadership
in the puff pastry market, thanks to flexibility, innovation and diversification,
with new recipes, fillings, and innovative packaging.
The Perla Company:
new Packaging and Global Flavors
for the future
In 2024, Perla Company renews its historic white packaging with a new brown design
on FSC cardboard, embellished with the Italian Pastry Excellence brand
and a reference to the historic "Città Alta" logo.
With the enrichment of global tastes, in 2025 the Company launches new products
with international flavors, alongside the classics, anticipating future food trends.
Once again, first in innovation!