A spirit both entrepreneurial and green characterized the last edition of Coldiretti’s Green Oscars, when young Italians presented their creative ideas to fight the economic crisis by inventing jobs that are profitable and also good for the environment.
Here are some of the most extravagant yet successful businesses featured at the event:
- Davide Merlino and Michelangelo Sansone (the winners) gave birth in Sicily to the largest breeding of snails in Italy; these snails come from the intersection of French snails and those native to Sicily. Their business produces and sells fine snail caviar, which is highly requested.
- Marcello Rossetti has launched the first line of green furniture entirely covered by the fiber of prickly pear through a meticulous and largely manual process that is completely eco-friendly and doesn’t use any pollutants.
- Daniele Gioia in Basilicata is experimenting with the first crops of mushrooms obtained from coffee grounds.
- Maria Atzeni is producing the first mozzarella made from sheep's milk. A surprise for mozzarella lovers, and a great opportunity for those who are intolerant to cow's milk.
Coldiretti is Italy's largest agriculture and farming association.
