Development

La Serenísima was established in 1929 by Antonino Mastellone, a cheese-maker from Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

 who arrived in Argentina in 1925. Mastellone named his venture in honor of La Serenissima, a World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

-era Italian Air Force

Italian Air Force

The Italian Air Force has gone under different names in different periods:*Regia Aeronautica , from 1923 to June 1946*Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, the air force of Italian Social Republic during World War II...

 battalion which on orders to bombard Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, released a load of fliers urging peace, instead. The battalion itself had been named for the medieval Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, which was widely known as La Serenissima

La Serenissima

La Serenissima is a British early music/period instrument ensemble founded in 1994 by violinist Adrian Chandler, who has served as the group's director since its creation...

(though the word also translates as the "most serene," or peaceful).

Antonio and his brother, Giuseppe Mastellone founded Hermanos Mastellone in General Rodríguez

General Rodríguez

General Rodríguez is a city that makes up part of the Greater Buenos Aires urban area in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the General Rodríguez Partido.-External links:...

, a pampas city west of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, in 1927. The company became a leading area provider for a rapidly growing market in mozzarella

Mozzarella

Mozzarella is an Italian Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food product. The term is used for several kinds of Italian cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting :...

, provolone

Provolone

Provolone is an Italian cheese that originated in Southern Italy, where it is still produced in various shapes as in 10 to 15 cm long pear, sausage, or cone shapes. A variant of Provolone is also produced in North America and Japan...

 and ricotta

Ricotta

Ricotta is an Italian dairy product made from sheep milk whey left over from the production of cheese. Although typically referred to as ricotta cheese, ricotta is not properly a cheese because it is not produced by coagulation of casein...

 cheeses for Argentina's large Italian

Italian Argentine

An Italian Argentine is a person born in Argentina of Italian ancestry. It is estimated up to 25 million Argentines have some degree of Italian descent...

 community (of the 6 million Europeans who arrived in Argentina, over half were Italians).

Antonino Mastellone married Teresa Aiello on October 26, 1929, and on that date, reestablished the company as La Serenísima. Mastellone brought his first delivery truck in 1935 and incorporated the company in 1942; by 1960, the company had become one of the few in Argentina which mass-produced pasteurized

Pasteurization

Pasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...

 milk, allowing it to sell the product year-round.

Establishing its own research laboratory in 1964, La Serenísima became the first in Argentina to provide nutritional facts on each bottle. The company pioneered the sale of lactose

Lactose

Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that is found most notably in milk and is formed from galactose and glucose. Lactose makes up around 2~8% of milk , although the amount varies among species and individuals. It is extracted from sweet or sour whey. The name comes from or , the Latin word for milk,...

-free milk in Argentina in 1984, became the market leader in the sale of yogurt (whose local consumption more than doubled between 1983 and 1988) and introduced cultured milk locally, in 1988. La Serenísima also introduced large-scale organic dairy

Organic farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...

 farming in Argentina, in 1994, and became the first to fortify its products with iron sulfate

Iron sulfate

Iron sulfate may refer to:*Ferrous sulphate, Iron sulfate, FeSO4*Ferric sulphate, Iron sulfate, Fe23...

.
The company launched an advertising blimp

Blimp

A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...

 in 1995, though the venture ended in a November 23, 1996, crash as a result of a violent storm; no injuries were recorded.

Relationship with Tropicana

In 1994, La Serenísima began selling not-from-concentrate, perishable juices through a joint venture with Tropicana

Tropicana

-Hotels and venues:*Tropicana Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada*Tropicana Casino and Resort Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey*Tropicana Club, a nightclub in Havana, Cuba and New York City*Tropicana Casino *Tropicana Casino and Resort...

 (then owned by Seagram

Seagram

The Seagram Company Ltd. was a large corporation headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that was the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages in the world. Toward the end of its independent existence it also controlled various entertainment and other business ventures...

). It was a natural partnership between Argentina's largest dairy company (with perishable product distribution capabilities and expertise) and the world's best known premium juice brand. The venture, formed by Pascual Mastellone and Mike Harbison (of Tropicana), later ended after Tropicana was acquired by Pepsico

PepsiCo

PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...

 which, without chilled product knowledge, focused only on more generic "ambient" products (including juice beverages) similar to soft drinks.

Relationship with Danone

The company entered into a joint venture with French retail foods giant Danone for the sale of yogurt and dessert

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

s, in 1996. It continued to develop new products for the local market, such as phytosterol

Phytosterol

Phytosterols, which encompass plant sterols and stanols, are steroid compounds similar to cholesterol which occur in plants and vary only in carbon side chains and/or presence or absence of a double bond. Stanols are saturated sterols, having no double bonds in the sterol ring structure. More than...

-enriched milk in 2000, juices for infants, in 2001, and linoleic acid

Linoleic acid

Linoleic acid is an unsaturated n-6 fatty acid. It is a colorless liquid at room temperature. In physiological literature, it has a lipid number of 18:2...

-enriched milk, in 2003. It also became more active in public service efforts, such as in the establishment of an environmental impact bureau in 2002 and of a fund-raising effort for the non-profit Favaloro Foundation

Fundación Favaloro

The Favaloro Foundation is an Argentine scientific institution dedicated to medical teaching and research...

, in 2003.

La Serenísima, which processed over 4.8 million tons of milk annually, was recognized as one of the world's most prestigious names in its sector by Global Marketing Research, in 2004. Through Danone, it introduced "Activia

Activia

Activia is a brand of probiotic dairy products owned by Danone . Activia is marketed as a beneficial health product, with a focus on improved digestion for both men and women...

" to the Argentine market in 2005, and in June 2009, Danone reportedly entered into talks to acquire 100% of Mastellone Hermanos S.A., La Serenísima's parent company, though the latter's US$260 million debt and reported opposition to the sale on the part of former President Néstor Kirchner

Néstor Kirchner

Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...

 has since delayed the deal.

Products

The following is a list containing the products manufactured and comercialized by La Serenísima. This chart also include the other brands of the group.

Brand	Products
La Serenisima	milk Milk Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many... , powder Powdered milk Powdered milk is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated, due to its low moisture content. Another purpose is to reduce its bulk for...  milk, chocolate Chocolate Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...  flavoured milk, dulce de leche Dulce de leche Dulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where... , butter Butter Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying... , yoghurt Yoghurt Yoghurt, yogurt or yogourt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yoghurt are known as "yoghurt cultures"... s, cream Cream Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"... s, powder capuccino, fruit juice Juice Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree... -combined milk, cheese Cheese Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms.... s, ricotta Ricotta Ricotta is an Italian dairy product made from sheep milk whey left over from the production of cheese. Although typically referred to as ricotta cheese, ricotta is not properly a cheese because it is not produced by coagulation of casein... , cream cheese Cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, mild-tasting, white cheese with a high fat content. Traditionally, it is made from unskimmed milk enriched with additional cream.... s
Actimel Actimel Launched in Europe in 1994, Actimel is a 'probiotic' yoghurt-type drink produced by the French company Danone. It is sold in 100ml bottles, typically as an 8, 6 or 4 pack, but more recently as a 12 or 16 pack...	probiotic Probiotic Probiotics are live microorganisms thought to be beneficial to the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host"...  yoghurts
Activia Activia Activia is a brand of probiotic dairy products owned by Danone . Activia is marketed as a beneficial health product, with a focus on improved digestion for both men and women...	probiotic yoghurts
Danette	dessert Dessert In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,... s
Danonino	probiotic Probiotic Probiotics are live microorganisms thought to be beneficial to the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host"...  yoghurt
Ser	fruit juice-combined milk, probiotic milk, yoghurts, diet Diet food Diet food refers to any food or drink whose recipe has been altered in some way to make it part of a body modification diet... yoghurts, diet desserts
Vidacol	probiotic yoghurts

External links

• Official website