Farmers since 1860

The Carmazzi farm was born more than a century ago in Torre del Lago, a Tuscan town where Maestro Giacomo Puccini spent much of his life and found inspiration to compose his immortal operas. The Carmazzi's ancestors, sharecroppers on the estate of the noble Bourbon family, initially practiced extensive farming, shifting over time from closed-loop farming to open farming. Giuseppe Carmazzi, who can be considered the progenitor of the enterprise, returned from a work experience in New York where he had landed in the 1910s with his brothers and started the family farming business in the sluice where the company is now based: from extensive farming, as the years went by and the generations alternated, they moved on to progressively more specialized farming and greenhouse cultivation. In the late 1970s Marco Carmazzi succeeded his father Eustachio, Giuseppe's son, in running the business, and the company further specialized in floriculture, producing potted flowering plants, aromatic plants, strawberries and chili peppers. In the 1980s the company started the production of cut flowers and organic vegetables, when awareness of such growing methods was not yet widespread. Today, thanks to a decade-long collaboration with the University of Pisa and the expert Massimo Biagi, who passed away in 2017, the company offers its customers chili pepper plants from various parts of the world, some of them extremely rare, and a line of spicy food products rich in references, marketed under the MrPIC® brand. Over the years, the Carmazzi family has been able to make a name for itself in Italy and Europe, offering its customers products characterized by very high quality standards and cultivated in total respect for the natural cycles of plants: the first official organic certification, issued by the Suolo e Salute Association, dates back to 1989. With the intention of preserving its history and traditions without, however, renouncing the search for new markets, the company also began a fruitful collaboration with the Spanish Flowers2Eat® group, specializing in the cultivation of edible flowers and becoming the first company in Europe to obtain organic certification in this sector. In 2008, the Carmazzi company was the first Italian floriculture company to obtain the prestigious ISO 14001 environmental management certification, having initiated a production process aimed at protecting the environment and optimizing the resources used: stop wasting water thanks to innovative sub-irrigation techniques, forward with separate collection, separate waste disposal and constant monitoring of phytosanitary interventions and fertilization, so as to ensure a very low environmental impact. In the same year the company obtained ISO 9001 certification, issued to those companies that make quality productions, confirming itself as a virtuous model in the panorama of Italian agricultural enterprises. In 2012, Giacomo Carmazzi, Marco's son and the sixth generation of the family engaged in the agricultural business, began working at the company, which in the meantime has also gained experience in the creation of gardens and architectural greenery: in 2012 it won first prize at the prestigious Orticolario festival for the creation of the "Giardino d'Amor Novo," and in 2013 it ranked third at the 100th edition of the Royal Horticoltural Society Chelsea Flower Show with the flowering installation The Sonic Pangea Garden. The Carmazzi company, now led by Giacomo, Marco and his wife Paola, has also organized Peperoncino Day - Culture and Cultivation for 8 years: the event soon became the reference event in Italy for chili pepper enthusiasts and has welcomed over 80,000 visitors in its numerous editions, reaching the highest notoriety with the realization of the world record for the largest number of chili pepper varieties ever exhibited at the same time (as many as 1,133). The record, unbeaten to date, was achieved during a spectacular evening held in the central Piazza Mazzini on the Viareggio waterfront and was ratified by the World Chilli Alliance.