A CICA, one of the most important food industries in Brazil, was founded by Alberto Bonfiglioli. Coming from Bologna, he made history in the new country.
Born December 6, 1897 in Bologna, capital and largest city in the region of Emilia Romagna and Lombardy, in Italy, Alberto Bonfilgioli arrived in Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century.
Son of Victor Bonfiglioli e Rosa Bonfiglioli, Alberto studied at Salesian High School of Milan and landed on Brazilian soil in 1910. In his new country, he studied at the Faculty of Commerce of São Paulo, where he graduated in Economic Sciences, with honors and gold medals.
Member of one of the most important families of Bologna, started his life in Brazil at the age of 13, and with a lot of effort managed to have a successful career as a businessman and banker, even before founding CICA.
He was CEO and main shareholder of Banco Auxiliar, Companhia Comisária Alberto Bonfiglioli and Agropecuária Bonfiglioli e Construtora Bonfiglioli, among others.
In addition, he was director-treasurer of the Circolo Italiano, secretary of Dante Alighieri Society, director of the São Paulo Commercial Association, director of FIESP, advisor to Muse Italiche and vice-president of Palmeiras Sports Society.
The foundation of Cica
However, the undertaking that made Alberto Bonfiglioli better known in Brazil was the founding of Industrial Food Canned Company (CICA)In the city of Jundiaí, in São Paulo.
All because of the brand's most famous product, the Elephant tomato paste, which for decades has been present in the lives of Brazilian consumers. It was an extract made with carefully selected tomatoes, without skin and seeds, which was the main ingredient in thousands of dishes on the tables of Brazilian homes.
This favorite ingredient among the country's cooks was used to give color and flavor to the most varied types of dishes, including sauces, meats, stews and pies, among others.
Alberto Bonfiglioli founded CICA in 1941, alongside his brothers Savior e Antonino Messina and families Guerrazzi e Guzzo, everyone too Italian immigrants. Of course, the brand's first product was tomato paste, a natural decision, even for the Italian origins of the founders.
Elephant inspiration
The product had a real elephant printed on its tin. The origin of this choice is not well documented, but there are some theories. One of the possibilities is the fact that Rodolfo “Rudi” Bonfiglioli, son of Alberto, was a notorious elephant hunter.
Another, more sympathetic theory, is that the symbol character was chosen in honor of the Massina family's homeland. It's just that in the main square of Catania, port city of Sicilia, is the famous Elephant Fountain.
The fact is that, in the beginning, it was not easy for CICA to establish itself in the tomato derivatives market, especially given the competition from Fish Factory, which at the time dominated the trade in this type of product.
In the early 1940s, advertisements for Elefante tomato paste mentioned the “double tomato concentrate”, an expression that also appeared on the can. In August 1943, the product and the wording on the can were changed to “triple concentrate”, with the advertising reminder “It’s better and yields more”.
Striking Cica advertisements
At the end of the 1950s, the jingle of Neapolitan tarantella, reinforcing and explaining this characteristic of the process. The song lyrics said, "Elephant Tomato Extract/is pure, it's triple concentrated/CICA only works with selected tomatoes."
In the following years, the strong appeal of the advertisements and, of course, the quality of the product, gave CICA and the Elephant extract became a huge success. In a 1964 advertisement, the animated elephant selected tomatoes on a conveyor belt, saying “you yes, you no”, to reinforce care in production.
However, history would still reserve greater flights for the brand. In 1968, the designer Mauritius de Souza published in the newspaper Folha de São Paulo a comic strip where Mônica pulled the elephant Jotalhão through the trunk, while Chives He said: “I don’t know, but I think what your mother asked for was tomato pasta”.
The joke referred to Mônica's mistake, as her mother had ordered a tomato paste that had the mark of an elephant on the label and she got confused and took the clumsy Jotalhão. It was then that the character was offered to CICA in 1969.
Jotalhão, the poster boy
From that moment on, the character Jotalhão became the new poster boy of tomato paste. Maurício de Souza's beloved character began to appear on product packaging only in 1979, as part of a process to modernize the design and communication strategy of the Elefante brand.
The friendly Jotalhão replaced the realistic drawing of an elephant on the product can, an animal that, in fact, was part of the CICA logo for a long time. Later, Jotalhão went solo and gained the signature “The most loved elephant in Brazil”.
But, despite being the brand's flagship product, CICA did not live solely on Elefante tomato paste. In the 1970s, the company produced marmalades e guavas in its branch located in the city of Delfim Moreira, in the south of Minas Gerais. The company also manufactured vinegars, mayonnaise, hot sauces and other food products.
Both tomato paste and other products continued to be highly successful in the 1980s, when the company launched new packaging, like glass cups with traditional red cap from Elephant extract.
Go to the company, stay the elephant
In 1993, CICA was acquired by Unilever (in season, Gessy Lever) and the Elefante brand began to be distributed in several countries, as different as Puerto Rico e Japan. Shortly afterwards, in 1996, the brand decided to add more ingredients (seasonings) to the famous tomato paste, which maintained its same formula for 55 years.
In 2003, tomato paste became part of the company's product line. Knorr, then recently acquired by Unilever. With this, the brand was born Knorr Elephant.
The brand CICA was extinguished in 2003 and the factory in Jundiaí had already been closed in 1998, making way for a construction materials store. However, you can still find Pomodoro Tomato Pulp with the CICA brand in supermarkets.
In 2010, the North American company Cargill purchased Unilever's tomato division in Brazil, including the Elefante brand. In 2012, after 13 years of absence, the elephant Jotalhão returned to the media as cover boy of brand.
The beloved tomato paste and its poster child, even more beloved, survived the end of CICA and continue through other companies cheering and giving flavor to the most varied types of dishes in Brazil and around the world.
Challenges of a family
Businessman Alberto Bonfiglioli died on July 4, 1967 and left a giant legacy of achievements in business area inthe food sector Brazilian. His son, Rodolfo Marco Bonfiglioli he also got involved in business and today his grandchildren Claudia, Alberto, Sandra e Silvana, continue to operate in the agricultural segment, creating breed dogs, and in the administration of the fast-food chain Bon Grillê.
One of the family driven by challenges and that left its mark on Brazilian industry forever.
By Roberto Schiavon/Italianism
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