Peroni Brewery

Pepperoni Brewery

A 66cl bottle of Peroni
Location	Rome, Italy
Opened	1846
Owned by	SABMiller

Peroni Brewery is a brewing company, founded in Vigevano in Lombardy, Italy in 1846. It has been based in Rome since 1864 and is now owned by the parent company SABMiller brewing group. The company's main brand in Italy is Peroni (4.7% ABV) a pale lager sometimes known as Peroni Red in export markets. However, it is probably best known worldwide for its premium lager, Nastro Azzurro (5.1% ABV), which was the 13th best-selling beer in the United Kingdom in 2010.

History

The Peroni company was established under the founding family name in the town of Vigevano, Italy (1846). The company was moved to Rome by Giovanni Peroni in 1864, six years prior to Rome becoming the Italian capital in 1870. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the company became one of the most prominent brewing companies in the newly unified Italian nation.

The company's brand strategy continued to refine itself to match industry trends of the 1980s. By the 1990s, both the Peroni brand name and product line were distributed and known worldwide. The London-based brewing giant SABMiller bought the company in 2003, making it one of the few international brands in its portfolio. To re-launch the brand in 2005, SABMiller hired an empty boutique on 202 Sloane Street, London to align it with other Italian fashion brands; the boutique was entitled "Emporio Peroni".

Brands

Nastro Azzurro at a sidewalk cafe in St Mark's Square, Venice, Italy.

Beers under the Peroni brand include: Crystall, a 5.6% abv pale lager; Peroni Gran Riserva, a 6.6% abv strong lager; Peroncino, a 5% pale lager; Peroni Leggera, a 3.5% pale lager. The company also produces the Wuhrer brand - a 4.7% pale lager launched in Brescia in 1829. The main brands are Peroni and Nastro Azzurro.

Peroni

Peroni is the Peroni company's original brand, and according to Assobirra, the best selling beer in Italy. It is 4.7% abv, and is made with barley malt, maize, hop pellets and hop extract. By the 1950s and 1960s, Peroni was the most recognized brand of beer throughout the Italian peninsula.

Nastro Azzurro

Nastro Azzurro is a 5.1% alcohol by volume pale lager. It is the Peroni Brewery's premium lager brand which was launched in 1963. The name means "Blue Ribbon" in Italian, in honor of the Blue Riband won by Italian ocean liner SS Rex in 1933. Nastro Azzurro has also sponsored teams in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. In 1997 they sponsored a 125cc Aprilia team with rider Valentino Rossi, who won the championship in that season. In 2000 and 2001 they sponsored a 500cc Honda team, again with Rossi as the rider.

External links

• Birra Peroni website
• Peroni Nastro Azzurro Facebook Page
• Peroni Nastro Azzurro International Site
• Nastro Azzurro Homepage
• Fashion designer Antonio Berardi's art direction for Peroni Nastro Azzurro's Russian advertising campaign, JCReport.com
• Emporio Peroni Press Release, 2005