Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Tom Rinaldo

(22,911 posts)
Fri Apr 17, 2020, 08:59 AM Apr 2020

OK, I'm willing to start buying Barilla Pasta again

Maybe I'm just seriously out of the loop on this, but I was completely unaware of the sustained efforts that company has made to atone for the homophobic remarks that it's Chairperson made in an Italian radio interview back in 2013. That triggered an international boycott of the brand by Gay and Lesbian activists and those who stood behind their efforts, with me among the millions who fell into the latter category. It's been years since I bought a Barilla product, but a friend just forwarded me this article:

Barilla Pasta’s Turnaround From Homophobia to National Pride.
After chairman Guido Barilla rebuked gay families on national radio, his CEO spent five years cleaning up the company’s reputation.

Bloomberg Businessweek
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/barilla-pasta-s-turnaround-from-homophobia-to-national-pride?utm_source=pocket-newtab

It is a very long and interesting read that doesn't at all whitewash the implications of the interview that Guido Barilla gave in September of 2013. But it is an in depth study of all the resulting consequences of that interview, both negative and positive. Here are some excerpts from it. Claudio Colzani is the CEO of Barilla, who had been on the job for less than a year before he was blindsided by the radio interview that Guido Barilla made:

Colzani implemented diversity and inclusion training and unconscious bias courses for the entire workforce. Now employees are asked every 18 months whether they feel their leaders are committed to building more-diverse teams. (In the latest assessment, 72 percent of participants said yes, up from 65 percent in the previous one.) Almost 1,000 workers have formed and joined employee resource groups, each focused on a specific theme, such as refugee training or gender and sexual identity. Beatrice Burlenghi and Martina Olivola, the leaders of the latter group, nicknamed Voce, distributed Barilla-branded rainbow bracelets to employees after meeting with a similar group at General Electric Co. that had done the same.


... Colzani’s request for a separate board of external advisers was tougher to deliver on, because most of the potential candidates Barilla approached didn’t want to be affiliated with the company, Anderson said. David Mixner, a civil rights activist, author, and playwright once named by Newsweek magazine as the most powerful gay man in America, refused four times to meet with Guido Barilla before finally agreeing to it as a personal favor to a friend who worked in public relations.

“I joined the boycott and said I wouldn’t meet with him, because I’m so sick of going to these things and hearing nothing but apologies,” Mixner said. He finally relented and met the chairman for lunch at the Glass House Tavern near Times Square. Before sitting down at the restaurant, which has a crispy chicken salad named after him, Mixner instructed the waiters to speed up the service so he could leave within the hour. He and Barilla ended up spending four hours at the table, during which the 72-year-old Mixner spoke of the pain he’d suffered for being gay. He’d spent three years estranged from his family, lost jobs, and been the target of a hate crime. Barilla said his family had a long history of combating injustice, with his father having been involved with members of the resistance against Italy’s fascist regime in the 1940s.


Further in the story

(in October 2018) "at the Pasta World Championship in Milan, Barilla did exactly what its chairman had promised would never happen: It unveiled a limited edition of its most popular product, Spaghetti No.?5, wrapped in a box illustrated with two women holding hands, a single strand of pasta held between their lips in a nod to Walt Disney Co.’s Lady and the Tramp. It was designed by Olimpia Zagnoli, an Italian artist who had advocated for boycotting Barilla in 2013.


Anyway, I found this story to be both fascinating and encouraging. It talks about the larger social climate in Italy and elsewhere also and does not focus solely on Barilla. I thought it worth sharing here for others, like me, who do not always follow the world wide fight against homophobia as closely as I should
9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

SharonClark

(10,005 posts)
3. Good, I hope you do.
Fri Apr 17, 2020, 10:27 AM
Apr 2020

Their 3rd largest factory is in Ames, Iowa, and they appear to be good corporate citizens.

. . ."the company also touched on sustainability goals for the company, announcing their commitment to become a 100 percent zero waste facility by the end of 2020. Barilla Ames is a founding member of the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum in partnership with Iowa State University.

“We are taking every opportunity we have to reduce our footprint on the planet,” Covington said. “We have one planet. When it’s gone, it’s gone. We need to do our part and be good corporate citizens in taking care of that.”

https://www.amestrib.com/news/20190410/barilla-expanding-pasta-bilities-with-plant-expansion

Tom Rinaldo

(22,911 posts)
5. It can be almost as important to reward good corporate behavior as it is to punish poor behavavior
Sat Apr 18, 2020, 07:05 AM
Apr 2020

Or at the very least to stop punishing a corporation for prior bad behavior after they have taken serious steps to make amends.

Glad to hear this.

abqtommy

(14,118 posts)
4. I haven't paid much attention to this, mainly because I don't do much cooking any more. I've
Fri Apr 17, 2020, 10:45 AM
Apr 2020

found that the pre-cooked frozen spaghetti dinners sold by the Marie Callender and Banquet brands
are palatable and easy to prepare in my microwave. A quick search showed that both brands ar owned by ConAgra but nothing about any previous or on-going boycott issues. If anybody knows different give me a shout!

disclaimer: My son will eat either of these meals with relish!

Vinca

(50,168 posts)
7. These days when you go to the grocery store there is a choice: Barilla pasta or Barilla pasta.
Sat Apr 18, 2020, 07:47 AM
Apr 2020

Who ever guessed pasta would become a hoardable item? Sorry I gave away my pasta machine.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»OK, I'm willing to start ...