Discover the Kattibuale brand: here is our interview.

In the center of the Mediterranean Sea, on the island of Pantelleria, stands Kattibuale, a family-run farm named after a small district of the island located between Lake Venere and the sea.

The long tradition and rural culture have made the island known worldwide for its incredible and unique landscape and for some products that have been defined as "food excellences".
To ensure the authenticity and originality of Pantesco flavors, in recent years, numerous small businesses have emerged in Pantelleria with the primary goal of preserving the local character of certain products.
Among them stands out Kattibuale, a company born from the awareness of having a unique land, whose potential is incredible, and from a strong patriotic sentiment that led to the desire to introduce their island to enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike. "Heroic agriculture": this is how Giuseppe Pavia, the owner of the Kattibuale business, defines it.

Kattibuale's is a passion that has been passed down through generations: the love for terracing and typical cultivations, including capers, olives, and aromatic herbs.
Giuseppe Pavia inherited lands from his family, and the ever-growing desire to be in contact with untouched nature convinced him to start his agricultural company.
Thus, the Kattibuale workshop was born, a place for transforming and packaging typical products that are excellent and unique in flavor.
The flagship products of the artisan workshop today are sea salt capers, Pantelleria oregano, and sun-dried tomatoes.

We love these realities, these producers of unique, certified, and award-winning delicacies: they are true treasures embedded in our Peninsula between seas and mountains and in the most remote streets of towns and countryside. We do not just limit ourselves to experiencing their products, but we want to discover more closely the protagonists of this brand. That's why we sent some questions to those who manage communication with us.

Stay with us to learn more about Kattibuale: read the answers!
 

• Who are we talking to?
  Giuseppe Pavia, owner of the business "Kattibuale".
   
• Is the company family-run? In what year was the company founded and who was the founder?
  The company is very small, as there are dozens on the island of Pantelleria, strictly family-run with origins that date back in time. On the island, agriculture has always been the main livelihood, especially vineyards and capers, and only since the 1970s has tourism also played a role. The island is full of small terraces, bordered by characteristic dry stone walls that drop steeply into the sea, worked by "heroic" farmers... in recent years, despite being a teacher by profession, I wanted to revive the family’s ancient passion, starting almost as a hobby but ending up planning and opening a small workshop for transforming and packaging typical products, cultivated in very modest quantities but excellent and unique in flavor.
   
• Who was the founder and what was their training or what was the professional field from which they came if different from the current one?
  The company has practically existed forever, passing the torch from father to son: the cultivated products, zibibbo grapes, capers, or oregano, were sold to the larger companies present on the island of Pantelleria; the need to close the supply chain locally, combined with the need to enhance niche productions often undervalued by the market, led me to undertake, about 4 years ago, the construction of a small artisan laboratory located precisely in a district between the lake and the sea called Kattibuale.
   
• What is the real reason or triggering fact behind the birth of this company and when did it occur?
  The love for Pantelleria is at the heart of everything, along with the desire to share customs and flavors that are foundational to a tradition, to the very culture of a people. It is no coincidence that the island of Pantelleria has recently been recognized as a National Park and that the practice of vine cultivation has been classified as a UNESCO Heritage.
   
• What is your relationship with the land of origin and its typicality? And why do you want to tell its story with your products?
  The history of Pantelleria is an agricultural story; the island is a collection of volcanic cones overlooking the sea, reclaimed over the centuries by the relentless work of men who separated the land from the stones, using the stones to build their houses (the dammusi) and boundary walls to retain the soil. The rest is sculpted by the wind, humidity, and the geologically young and mineral-rich soil that allows, in the absence of irrigation and with very scarce rainfall throughout the year, the production of authentic “excellences” using methods that are extremely respectful of nature.
   
• What was the first product you created?
  For centuries, Pantelleria has been primarily known for zibibbo grapes, intended to be sold as table grapes, dried grapes, and, only in the last fifty years, to be vinified as Passito di Pantelleria; alongside it, the only product historically cultivated in significant quantities has been the capers. The crisis of the wine market and the advent of tourism have sparked a rediscovery of historically undervalued products, which, like grapes and capers, can perfectly integrate with the territory; among these are certainly the aromatic herbs, the olives of the Biancolilla cultivar, the citrus fruits cultivated in Pantesco gardens, and many types of vegetables, all cultivated strictly without irrigation.
   
• What is the product that you currently consider as your “flagship”?
  The Kattibuale company has focused heavily on the Pantelleria oregano, unique, fragrant, cultivated and processed by hand, and dried under the June sun. Due to its intoxicating and intense fragrance, it is set to become an important ingredient not only for niche cuisine but also for restaurants attentive to the details that make the difference.
   
• And what is the product that throughout the history of the company has most carried the beating heart, philosophy, and soul of the company itself?
  Certainly the capers, for the labor they require in processing, but especially in the extremely labor-intensive harvest, done entirely by hand, one by one, in a place where there is practically no workforce. But the effort then pays off, as it is well known…to gather dozens of kilos of capers is an endeavor that realizes through hard work, day after day.
   
• Let’s talk about today: how much has the company expanded since its inception? Can we have some numbers?
  The company has now expanded boasting nearly 5 hectares cultivated with vineyards, caper fields, olive groves, oregano, and vegetables; most of the land, owned by the family, had been abandoned and has now been resumed; other plots have been purchased or are under a lease agreement.
   
• At this moment: more tradition or more innovation?
  Definitely more tradition; innovation mainly concerns the distribution and sales phase; the production aspect, especially due to the challenging characteristics of the territory, cannot be mechanized or modernized; sales can, through social media and websites that allow our products to overcome isolation and reach the world.
   
• What has been the most important evolution of the company to bring it to what it is today?
  The best evolution is the revival of tradition, shifting away from a model of mass agricultural economy to safeguard a small, authentic, original, and nature-respecting production.
   
• Talking instead about the future: what kind of future awaits the company? Are there any changes or new evolving processes planned?
  None at the moment.
   
• Do you plan to create new products?
  I plan to continue in the effort to close the supply chain for other products that we regularly cultivate, such as sun-dried datterino tomatoes, the rediscovery of raisins, and extra virgin olive oil.
   
• Having focused on Spaghetti & Mandolino, how important is online sales for you? What has been your past relationship with this sales channel and how do you see it in the future?
  So far, we have never sold online, only locally. Spaghetti & Mandolino is a great opportunity given the significant visibility it has and the potential audience that, through the portal, our products could reach.
   
• Value: what has it been, what is it today, and what will it be for your company in the future?
  Limited production, seriousness, ties to the island of Pantelleria.

S&M