In 1905 Gennaro Fabbri founded the “Premiata Distilleria Liquori G. Fabbri” in Portomaggiore (Ferrara): he took over an old grocery store, transforming it into a liqueur and syrup production shop. In 1914 the company moved to Bologna; there, in the Borgo Panigale district, the following year the most famous product was born: Amarena Fabbri, created by Gennaro’s wife, Rachele Buriani, and originally called “Marena con fruit”. As a sign of love and thanks for having created this recipe, Gennaro Fabbri gives her the white and blue ceramic vase created by the ceramist Gatti of Faenza, with a shaped body and typical oriental decorations; this icon has helped to consolidate the myth of the company, becoming an object for collectors. The Thirties marked the birth of the “Cherry Liqueur” and the expansion of the range with jams, the only production allowed during the difficult war period. As was customary for the time, the company did not place in the logo the role of main vehicle of the corporate visual identity, so in the posters and labels the designer, from time to time, adapted the logo to his sensibility and the style of the moment; therefore there is advertising material of the time with, indifferently, stick, graceful, gestural and fantasy characters.
In 1938 the first logo composed with a font of calligraphic derivation. With the economic recovery, in 1947 the company was transformed into a joint stock company; the first semi-finished products for artisanal ice cream are born, that is fruit-based pastes and creams with the addition of water or milk.
In 1951 the logo changed with the use of a more decisive font.
Within a decade, the logo changed four times: in 1956 and 1959 the logo is no longer inclined and has a lowercase initial.
In 1962 it is composed entirely in capital letters with an Egyptian character (with very accentuated graces) while in 1966 it is composed with a lighter and more distinctive character, in the institutional color blue. In the 1960s, the company’s success was sensational and Fabbri offered the typical vans equipped to show ice cream makers how to produce a typical Italian artisan ice cream. Fabbri is also among the first protagonists of the famous Carosello: everyone remembers the amusing adventures of “Solomon, the easy-going pirate”. In the 1980s, the range of products intended for out-of-home consumption expanded and Fabbri began to collaborate with partner companies to distribute their products everywhere. The goal is to expand and consolidate sales in foreign markets.
In 1999 the company changed its name to “Fabbri 1905 SpA” to clarify the almost centennial history; the logo also bears, in addition to the negative logo, a band with the year of foundation.
