“It was Rosy, who runs the village mini-market, who convinced me to participate. At first I was sceptical. Later on, it was she again who practically forced me to join the Board. Today, all I can say is that there’s nothing better one could be forced to do”, emphasises Samuele, who after the first three-year term has now been confirmed on the Fer-Menti Leontine Board until 2025. Rosy – whose full name is Rosalba Olei – is a member of the cooperative too. Her shop is just a stone’s throw away from the bakery, and todayanyone who buys a flatbread goes to her for the filling – this is what cooperation is all about.

The first Fer-Menti Leontine assembly elected as President and vice-President, respectively, Marco Angeloni and Marta Ciucci – two other young people from the area (he was born in 1986, she was born in 1988), both born and raised in Novafeltria. Marta’s grandparents were from San Leo and today she’s among the few people – one hundred in total – who live in the historical centre. Samuele recounts: “When the whole project started, we did not know each other. Then, despite our different cultural and religious backgrounds and different political visions, we built what is now our common path”, he continues. And he adds: “To tell the truth, I didn’t even know how a cooperative works, I mean, as a business model: for me, the ReStartApp ‘on-campus’ course was vital. What I learnt there allows me today to have an overview of things and effectively delegate communication activities for the cooperative – because ‘telling about us’ is not always easy”.

In 2019, when the cooperative Fer-Menti Leontine was first established, there were 28 (ordinary or subsidizing) members; today there are 67. In addition to many citizens, a number of local businesses too have bet on this project, making available part of the resources needed to get the bakery going (“This really impressed us – we didn’t think there would be so much interest”, says Samuele).

The investment required to start up the activity, just under €300,000, was also possible thanks to some funds received. “Renovation works started in 2020, but soon after, in spring, the pandemic put everything on hold. Marta, who is an architect by training, supervised the building site”, says Samuele.

“A turning point, in January 2020, at SIGEP (the International Trade Show of Artisan Gelato, Pastry, Bakery and the Coffee World) had been the meeting with Panificatori Agricoli Urbani (Urban Agricultural Bakers)”, he recalls. Samuele. PAU is a movement established in 2018 to support players in the modern baking business, those who take care of the entire supply chain, ‘from the field to the oven’. This network was developed thanks to the insight of Davide Longoni (Panificio Davide Longoni, Milan), Matteo Piffer (Panificio Moderno, Isera, Trento), and Pasquale Polito (Forno Brisa, Bologna). That year, at the SIGEP trade show, some thirty people discussed for three days the principles outlined in the «Manifesto of the Urban Agricultural Bakers (Manifesto dei Panificatori Agricoli Urbani), which in October of the same year was then signed by around fifty bakeries. Samuele, Marta and Marco, together with Rita Bellentani – now the Director of Forno di San Leo – took part in some of the assemblies: “They gave us a great initial impulse, also as far as values were concerned. It was important for us to understand the ‘supply-chain bread’ concept, which is the one we adhered to in the Marecchia Valley. One of the core features of the network is mutual support, and it has worked very well for us: Lorenzo Cagnoli, the baker from Gemmano (thirty kilometres from San Leo, in the Conca Valley), for instance, donated his sourdough to the bakery and, even more important, trained Emanuele (who is now our head baker) for six months” explains Samuele.