In Soliera, in the province of Emilia, there has been a company specialising in animal feed and diagnostics for food safety for over thirty‑five years. Its headquarters cover a total area of more than 30,000 square metres and serve as a laboratory for the future. For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviews Matteo Rinaldi, CEO of Orsell
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri and Francesca Aufiero
Hands that think, minds that study, hearts that endure. And that come back. This is story about returning home to the wonderful land of Emilia. It is the story of Orsell: a company that for over thirty‑five years has specialised in animal nutrition and diagnostics for food safety. You start small in order to do great things.“The first premises were a room in our house – specifically, a table where the first chemical‑paper fax machine was connected – and the first warehouse was a cupboard full of boxes and dreams”, says Matteo Rinaldi, born in Carpi in 1972.Shortly after he was born, he and his family moved to Pavia because his father, Claudio, was working for Farmitalia in Milan, and later they returned to Emilia. It was 1987.
Company profile . But let's take a step back in time. Late 1980s: Claudio was a young technician driven by a slightly bold ambition to build something that would truly make sense for the feed industry: for farmers, for animals, for those who believed that quality was an act of responsibility. That dream had a name. Orsell, founded on a vision that seemed complicated at the time but now appears as clear as spring water: whatever ends up in food must be safe, monitored and controlled. A business that grows hand in hand with its local area. From the early 2000s it moved to Soliera. This is a lowland town of fifteen thousand inhabitants on the western bank of the River Secchia in the province of Modena. The name alludes to its rural roots and its predominantly agricultural vocation. It derives from the Latin solarium, meaning the open loft where grain was left to dry in the sun. A crossroads of skilled hands, quiet businesses and hard‑working industrial districts. When the idea was born, no one was talking about integrated or sustainable supply chains. However, there, in those streets, people were already putting real commitment into practice. “In the 1990s we expanded our offices and warehouses. Then, in 2006, we moved into a former livestock shed, transforming it into a modern headquarters with laboratories, and into a place people began to call ‘home’”, recalls Rinaldi. A transformation not only in physical space but also in culture: from a small workshop to a benchmark hub, from a solitary dream to a network of partners. A headquarters with a mountain‑lodge look in the heart of the Po Valley, with a total area of 30,000 square metres. In 2020, after Covid claimed the life of the founder Claudio, Matteo and the three partners carried on with the project to build the new production site. Soliera as a laboratory for the future. Green spaces, photovoltaic panels, a constructed‑wetland pond for water treatment, areas for research and experimentation: a small corporate ecosystem that coincides with a micro‑environmental ecosystem.“We wanted to make this site a place where sustainability, innovation and community coexist. Together with the local authority, we are building something that goes beyond the business itself: a real contribution to the local area”, says Rinaldi.
Human capital. However, at Orsell, it is the people who are the real winning factor. Chemists, biotechnologists, technicians, agronomists, sales staff, export managers. Five years ago there were about fifteen of them; today they are approaching forty.“We look for critical thinkers, firmly rooted in hands‑on work and eager to grow and learn”, Rinaldi explains. Not just skills: company culture, vision and responsibility. Orsell is not just a supplier but a guarantor. On one side, raw materials and additives for animal nutrition so that farmers have everything they need; on the other, diagnostic kits to detect mycotoxins, allergens, residues and contaminants. “In short, to protect the health of animals and humans alike. “Our strength lies in viewing the supply chain as a single organism. We can spot problems before they even emerge and provide rapid, structured, reliable responses. It is not just marketing. It is an ethical choice”, says Rinaldi. At a time when animal husbandry must contend with sustainability, welfare and transparency, Orsell is responding to a growing demand from a market that expects responsibility. “Today there is rising demand for natural and biotechnological solutions to reduce the use of antibiotics, improve animal welfare and limit the impact on the planet.”It is a concrete response to the idea – one also embraced by many of the companies interviewed – that production and responsibility can and must go hand in hand. In‑house laboratory, webinars, continuous training: here, the cross‑fertilisation of ideas is seen as the starting point for progress. It is a bet on applied knowledge, in line with many businesses in Emilia‑Romagna that have decided that doing things well also means doing them together. Orsell is not just a brand printed on a bag of additives or on a diagnostic kit. It is proof that even in small businesses, especially in a region like Emilia, there beats the true heart of change: entrepreneurial, ethical and tangible. “We were born in a single room, but we want to take our idea of sustainable quality to every corner of the world”, says Rinaldi. It is a commitment to the future. And with the land that feeds us.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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