Barilla, originally established in 1877 as a bread and pasta shop in Parma, is today one of the top Italian food groups: a leader in the pasta business worldwide, in the pasta sauces business in continental Europe, in the bakery products business in Italy and in the crispbread business in Scandinavia. The Group employs more than 7,100 people and in 2007 had net sales of more than euro 2,5 billion and net profit of about euro 160 million, with investments in the amount of euro 145 million. The Company has been managed for over 130 years by one family's entrepreneurial experience and is now run by the fourth generation siblings: Guido, Luca, Paolo and Emanuela Barilla. Always oriented toward proper diet through exceptionally flavored and nutritionally balanced wheat products intended for daily use, Barilla became popular worldwide due to its attention to the quality of its products, the result of significant investments in research, innovation and technology, as well as communication. Barilla owns 27 production facilities (14 in Italy and 13 outside Italy), of which 10 are directly managed mills that provide most of the raw materials for the production of its pasta and bakery products.