Making a bun, flouring the counter and kneading it with a stick to later cut the noodles with a knife is an unknown process for those who have a Pastalinda in their home or who, due to its estimated durability of 30 years, were lucky enough to inherit one from some aunt or grandmother Today, 50,000 units are produced per year of this Argentine generic invented by an Italian immigrant and 25% is exported from Uruguay to India, passing through Italy itself, the cradle of the true pasta.
In Mussolini’s Italy, Don Augusto Prot He was waging his own battle: he had studied at a trade school in Milan where he acquired the musical knowledge necessary to become a renowned tenor. He became part of the choir of the emblematic La Scala theater in Milan, but the Duce put a limit on his artistic career; to follow the regime, he ordered him to join the National Fascist Party, but he did not give in, preferring to leave the stage and dedicate himself to mechanics, another of the trades he had learned at school.
In a small garage, Prot and his wife began in 1935 to manufacture parts for other industries. They started with a single lathe and shortly after they invested in more machines and managed to move the company, which was called Prot, to Sesto San Giovanni, a city north of Milan. There the Milanese began to manufacture washing, bottling, capping and labeling machines for renowned Italian beverage brands such as Campari.
The business was a success, but outside the Second World War was raging and Milan had become one of the main military targets. Sheltered in an underground shelter, the Prot couple and their children survived the bombardments and their factory was the only building in the area that remained standing, but there was no longer the courage to continue in the midst of so much pain and suffering. Emigrating was the only option and Argentina the promise of a better life.
With the commitment to never manufacture the same machines anywhere in the world again, Prot sold the patents and in 1948 he landed in Argentina with enough money to start over. She settled in General Las Herasa town located about 30 kilometers from the City of Buenos Aires and on a property that he bought began to manufacture Farm Equipment.
He emigrated, set up a new business, reunited his family, everything was going according to his calculations. However, he lacked good Italian pasta and without turning the matter too much he began to design what was going to be for him. The best pasta maker in the world.
In 1950 Augusto Prot carved the first prototype in wood
The cute machine, “it’s a cute pasta”
The machine had to meet two requirements: it had to be easy to use and should last. The first prototype was made by carving wood with a file and, when he was satisfied with the result, he produced 50 units in cast aluminum. The trademark was provided by her daughter, María Pía, when she saw the machine and said “What a nice machine, it’s a nice pasta”.
With the patented design and brand, Prot launched the first Pastalinda onto the market in 1950, first the home line and 5 years later a version for hotels and gastronomic establishments.
In 1958, just as the Pastalinda with a sheet metal structure and colors was launched, Prot died of lung cancer. His sons Piero and María Pía took charge of the company until Piero emigrated to Peru in the 1960s to start another business and his sister with her husband Rodolfo Grillitsch remained solely responsible for the family business; she occupying the administration and he the productive sector. At the moment Rodolfo is 97 years old and María Pía, 90 and up to the pandemic, went to the company like the first day.
The ’70s were Pastalinda’s golden decade. The company employed around 80 people, working 24 hours, making about 400 machines per day and exporting to the United States.
“If there is something that helped Pastalinda last over time, it was its quality. There are still families that have those machines that my great-grandfather made 73 years ago, some bring them to us to do a service or to clean them because they want to continue using them . There are families that even fight to inherit Grandma’s Pastalinda“, says proudly Jonathan Romero, the great-grandson of the founder and current president of Pastalinda.
Although in their history they surpassed all kinds of crisisit was with him menemism when things became more difficult for the company, which meant having to compete with the machines that began to be imported from China.
The second generation gave the present until the pandemic
“Although they were smaller machines and of poor quality, it was difficult to compete in terms of precio. A Pastalinda at that time cost around US$100 and a china cost US$5. Until people realized that these machines were disposable, many preferred them prioritizing the pocket. From 400 Pastalinda we went on to manufacture 50but despite everything, the truth is that while other companies had to close, Pastalinda held“, says Romero exclusively to iProfessional.
Except for those Chinese machines that threatened his leadership, no other managed to get Pastalinda off the podium. According to the businessman, there were always imitations, but nobody wanted (or could) make them better than them.
The rebirth of pasta Sundays
Romero joined the family business in 2015. At first, he swept the floors and did menial tasks while studying Business Administration, before finally taking the helm of Pastalinda in 2018. “At first it wasn’t easy. I had to start from scratch, I started to work without any kind of experience and with people who were 60 years old; I didn’t even know what a screw was and I was just a kid in my early twenties,” recalls Romero.
With an investment that exceeded $6 million the young businessman moved the Las Heras operation to a plant in The Paternal (CABA) and expanded the product offering with new models and utensils such as the pasta dryer, the ravioli accessory, the stamps and the pasta cutter wheel, among other complementary products.
“In addition, we streamlined the entire production process and modernized the plant with state-of-the-art machines; we practically made a new factory. I remember that we hired a consultant to help us. They told us that we had a serious problem, that the machine lasted a long time and that If we wanted to earn more money, what we had to do was spend less and make it have a useful life of no more than two years so that people buy it again. Clearly, I did the opposite: we improved the materials, extended the guarantee from 1 to 3 years, and brought out Pastalinda again with new colors,” says the businessman.
The red Pastalinda of this new stage was presented on the television program MasterChef in 2016 and since then the public rediscovered the machines and the passion for cooking at home. “Many people did not know that we were still producing, many believed that the machines that circulated were only those of grandmothers. With the program Demand doubled from one day to the next and we had to expand the factory and buy more machines. The history of Pastalinda is the history of unsatisfied demand, we are always behind orders“.
Jonathan Romero took the plant to the next level
With the pandemic of Covid 19, during the isolation, the company grew exponentially again as demand tripled and its stock ran out. “Despite the limitations that the protocol imposed on us to avoid contagion, we took out on average about 400 machines per daywe get back to work 24 hours even on sundays, we had to hire more people, today we are 100 and again we import more machinery; it was unusual. 2020 surpassed the golden age of the company“, says Romero.
Historically the products were sold exclusively in bazaars and retail chains, but in recent years Romero made the decision to open a Online store own and two physical points of sale exclusive to the brand; one to the street in Palermo Soho and the other, a gondola in the Shopping Alto Palermo; business models that he does not rule out in the future to start to franchise.
A pending account that the company had, but that since 2021 Romero began to settle were exports. Today 25% of production is exported and then there is Pastalinda in the homes of Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Colombia, Canada, India and soon they will return to the United States and for the first time they will say “ciao” to the very Italians.
