Sweet freedom, a chocolate factory starts up in prison

Can an all too often bitter setting like prison produce sweets? In Busto Arsizio, it can, with the help of the prison administration and the company “Sport e Spettacolo Holding”, led by its managing director Roberto Colombo, the goalkeeper of the Triestina football team, a man with a nose for business, who had faith in the idea of introducing a workshop creating high quality chocolate sweets into a prison.

This very evening, the director of the Busto Arsizio prison, Salvatore Nastasia (see photo), presented to the press and to the authorities of the Busto area, the great results achieved in only six months of the project “Sweet Freedom”, which, in a short time, has gone from a dream, on paper, to an actual workshop fitted with the most hi-tech equipment, thanks also to the great good will of the 40 prisoners that have taken part in the project. The company Sport e Spettacolo, which many sports champions are part of, including the brothers Franco and Giuseppe Baresi, Francesco Statuto, and others, brought in six master confectioners to teach the secrets of their trade; the results soon followed, in the form of chocolate bars, eggs, and sweets of every shape and flavour.

Great satisfaction was expressed by the deputy department head of the prison administration, Santi Consolo, who praised the director, the head of the education area, Rita Gaeta, and the prison warders, and highlighted the great opportunity that the prisoners that have taken part have had. “I must congratulate them on this great example of reintegration into the world of work,” Consolo said, “into the sweet sector, combining sweetness and freedom, two concepts that touch not only the palate, but the lives of all of us.”

Sport e Spettacolo’s managing director, Roberto Colombo, had particularly high praise for the prisoners. “We began this project with serious foundations, which took into account three aspects: entrepreneurial return, the creation of human and economic value, and the ability to provide an opportunity for integration. All three of these objectives have been achieved.”

The Mayor of Busto Arsizio, a well-known gourmet, had already tasted the excellent results of the confectioners-prisoners. “I was thrilled when they asked me to taste them a few months ago,” Gigi Farioli said. “I must congratulate these men, who, for as long as they’re here in Busto, will be my fellow townsmen. The Mayor also wanted to stress how many administrators from the area were present, and, on turning to the prisoners, concluded by saying, “You’re not an isolated district in this area, you’re an integral part, and here in Busto, you’ve had the opportunity to improve yourselves, thanks to the great engine that drives this area, which is always full of activity.”

The workshop is now operating at full production, and the master confectioners will continue training new apprentices, to replace those who eventually leave. The sweets can be purchased on-line, from the website www.dolciliberta.com, and they are already being met with initial success, thanks to the famous chocolate fair in Perugia, Eurochocolate, which will be exhibiting them from 15 to 24 October. And they can also be purchased in a number of bars and confectioners’ in Milan, Rimini, Brescia, and even in San Marino.