A STORY OF VALUE
An anniversary is always a moment to celebrate. Even more so when it comes to the anniversary of an established reality, deeply rooted in its territory, but also a key point in an international sector in which our country is among the best in the world.
In such a context, history, experience, values, cultures, and a sense of belonging intertwine to form a solid fabric from which we developed “A Story of Value”, the celebratory event for the thirtieth anniversary of Mundi Riso, a rice processing company in Vercelli and a strategic asset of the EBRO FOODS group, a world leader in the industry, for which we took care of the coordinated image, space design, setup, and overall organization.
There were multiple threads to pull: first of all, we sought to highlight the rich history and know-how of the industry, emphasizing the significant impacts it had on the territory and particularly highlighting the great contribution of the workers, both past and present; moreover, it was crucial to successfully combine the local and global dimensions that characterize the company activities.
THE RICE GRAIN: THE CONCEPT OF THE EVENT
Where to start? We thought the best idea was to start from the basics, the small but fundamental unit from which the company activities originated in 1994 and from which everything continues to this day, the rice grain. A product of the earth, but one that requires the constant work of people to unleash all its qualities; an important food for our tradition, but a flag for many other cultures; and why not, even a shape, that of a seed, capable of encapsulating everything we have listed so far and much more.
This was the starting point for the development of the visual concept of the event, and also for the creation of the storytelling video “A Story of Value”, previewed during the initial plenary, through which the identity of Mundi Riso took voice, body and image, together with its ideals, its will to celebrate the successes achieved over the years and to share the pride for its work with its greatest resource, people.
BETWEEN VERCELLI AND JAPAN
The physical translation of all this could not have a better location than the Vercelli plant itself. This sparked the idea to design a structure to be placed in the open spaces of the company, which could host all the different moments of the day. We decided to go for a tensile structure, to be precise, equipped with numerous seats and combined with a food area and other small areas created in adjacent environments. An alternative space right in the heart of the company, symbolizing the strong bond of Mundi Riso with its city and territory.
To celebrate the global component, the focus was then placed on an important core of the company activity, namely the production of sushi rice under the New Kenji brand, the pride of Mundi Riso and a wholly Italian excellence, validated by the consolidated partnership with AIRG, the Italian Association of Japanese Restaurateurs, which actively participated in the organization of the event.
The leitmotif of the day was therefore Japan and its culture in its entirety, which allowed linking more formal circumstances, such as the Kagami Biraki ceremony – attended by the Deputy Consul of Japan – with fun team-building activities, such as Mochi preparation, and also with moments of entertainment, including the Taiko musical performance and rice paper painting. In reality, rice was valued in all its applications worldwide, thanks to the food area conceived in stands, each representing a country known for its use of this food.
PEOPLE AND VALUE
And we haven’t talked about the company’s precious resource yet: people, the protagonists of this day. With them, the history of Mundi Riso was retraced during the plenary session, from the beginnings to the current challenges, and special thanks were addressed to them, with parchments handed to some retirees who significantly contributed to the development of the company.
Everything, as we said, starting from a rice grain. A simple grain, but one that contains earth, water, sky and, metaphorically, all the value that only a 30-year history can generate.