Hey, everybody, I'm Shane Ireland. Welcome to another episode of "All Pipes Considered." I have two very special guests with me today, Edoardo Cassani, Head of Production and Director of Operations at Savinelli, and Paolo Tamborini, the Export Sales Manager at Savinelli.

[Shane Ireland]: It's been too long since you guys came to the US. So what we want to talk about today — a lot of things, for sure — but for those of us out there who may not be totally familiar with the history of the company and where the brand and the manufacturing is today, let's take it back to the beginning.

[Edoardo Cassani]: Savinelli is a family-owned company. It's a very historical one. It was founded in 1876 in Milan, Italy, and nowadays the Savinelli family is still involved in the company. They're very active and they look forward to transmitting all of the history about the company, which is quite nice because they also strive to uphold the quality of the company. It's really changed as we have shifted to trying new stuff and as Paolo knows, for the export market, we are trying to do our best every day to get new stuff.

[SI]: Absolutely. So the company originated with the shop, yes?

[EC]: Yeah, exactly, in Milan, near the Piazza del Duomo, which is still there.

[SI]: Highly recommend a visit if you're vacationing in the area. It's a beautiful location. So, refresh my memory: At what point did the shift from the shop into manufacturing begin?

[EC]: It was after the Second World War, around 1950. Demand increased a lot, so they decided to make a new building and move near Barasso, Italy.

[SI]: That's fantastic. And very little about the production philosophy has changed in that time too; you're still doing everything the old way, the hard way.

[EC]: Absolutely, yes. We just changed a few things here and there, but the main driver is the quality and also the people. We have a lot of people who have worked for Savinelli for as long as 20, 30, 40 years. And that's great because they have the know-how and the knowledge of the history of the company. So I think that the people are the main driver of Savinelli nowadays.

[SI]: Absolutely. So to back up a little bit, when production began, again in the same area, same factory, how much of the business at this point has moved to the production? Now you have international markets and all that kind of stuff. How, in your own words, has the pipe manufacturing evolved since it began in the '50s or so?

[EC]: We just moved, and we now have a mix of classical shapes and series, such as Punto Oro, Giubileo, and Autograph, and series like Miele, Vigna, and so on that are particularly different. We also have a lot of accessories for cigars and pipes. I would say that we are trying to do our best to keep up with the times and reach people in different markets.

[SI]: Sure.

[EC]: We are in 2024 and we are going to have, in two years, our 150th year of Savinelli.

[SI]: Oh wow.

[EC]: So we definitely need to keep evolving.

[SI]: Of course.

[EC]: But, in the meantime, the main, important stuff remains the same.

[SI]: Yes. Sure.

[EC]: That's the key, I think. Yeah, so the family was always very in touch with the company. It was founded by Achille Savinelli, and is now run by the fifth generation of the family, Giancarlo Savinelli. Every pipe that is in the factory which is used to share the design, we share those with him. And this is very important for us because he knows the market and the history of the family, so it helps us maintain the tradition of the main line. The identity of the brand is very important. The most important thing for us is that the Savinelli company is still very proud to be the owner of the company. And though Giancarlo's son, Achille, isn't involved in the company, the familial identity is still very important.

[SI]: Absolutely. Do you know if he has a favorite model or a favorite type of pipe?

[EC]: He's a great fan of Punto Oro. He's a classic man, a very traditional one.

[Paolo Tamborini]: Definitely. So Savinelli moved to Lago di Varese in Barasso, for several reasons. One was because the environment there was great to age the briar because of the climate.

[SI]: Perfect climate, the right elevation.

[PT]: Yeah, the right elevation, the right ratio of moisture for the briar. So this was one of the reasons, and I would say the other reason is that it was an area full of small factories so we could easily get anything else that we needed for pipes and that we still need for pipes there. In fact, for example, we got the rings for the pipes just from a factory very close to us, all custom. Yeah, exactly. So it's always been like that. And it was just the perfect area to actually build the factory when the workshop behind the shop wasn't enough.

Savinelli was born as the first shop in Italy catering only to smokers. And it was only a shop and they were selling mostly English pipes, but then they started thinking, "In Italy we have the best briar, so why don't we produce our own pipes?" So they started at first repairing pipes in the shop and then making the first pipes in the shop. And then the demand grew and grew. And then it was time for a real factory. And I would say when Savinelli and pipes were at their peak, there were about 100 workers in the factory, 100 artisans. So it was a really big production.

[SI]: That's a lot of production.

[PT]: So today we have much less people, since efficiencies have grown a lot.

[EC]: A lot.

[SI]: Yeah, absolutely. Speaking about the shop and the workshop in the shop, when that began, do you have a sense of how many artisans were producing pipes in the smaller workshop?

[PT]: The one behind the shop?

[SI]: Yeah.

[PT]: Achille and a few other workers.

[EC]: Him and two more workers in the shop that would help him, but it was just three or four people.

[SI]: Oh my gosh, incredible.

[EC]: Yeah, a very small production.

[SI]: Yeah. That's incredible. So obviously Savinelli also owns the Rossi brand now, and these are two brands in two factories going back many years that had a lot of synergies between the businesses. How long has Savinelli owned the Rossi brand and how did that come about?

[EC]: We've owned the Rossi brand for around 20 years, more or less. And we certainly have synergy, because as Paolo said, this area is full of pipe makers. Especially in the past, but also now, we have a very good relation with all pipe makers because it's very important to create a collaboration between all the artisans.

[SI]: Of course.

[EC]: So, as we did with Rossi, we did with all the artisans that we have.

[SI]: Fantastic. I would say both as somebody who's been involved in the business for a decade and as a consumer for many years before that, so many of us today associate your brand with continuing innovations and releasing new series. At what point do you think was the shift between a firm route in very classic, traditional pipe manufacturing to some of what we see now, which I think is more modern, a little more innovative, and really a lot of fun. We've seen a lot of really interesting finishes, designs, and color combinations over the more recent years. When would you say that that pivot happened?

[EC]: I would say around 15 years ago.

[SI]: Okay, so much more modern in the company's history.

[EC]: Yeah, exactly. With the arrival of the new CEO, there were some key changes. We still have pipes in the more classical direction, but now we also have them going in the modern direction. We don't want to lose the classic way.

[SI]: Of course.

[PT]:Yeah, I think also one of the main drivers was actually the growth of the U.S. market, which drove Savinelli towards more colorful stems and a bit more of those modern designs.

[SI]: Yeah. That's interesting. I'm looking forward to talking about some of that specifically as well. Savinelli has been the top brand for many years historically and even in the last two decades in the U.S. market. And I think a lot of us that got into pipe smoking, it's a very common story. You get into pipe smoking because your father, or your grandfather, or whoever was into it. So the brand has been, I think, very forward in the minds of consumers for a couple of generations, at least in the U.S. market. So it's really interesting to see how you guys are maintaining that brand identity and still bringing something new to the table, which is not easy.

[EC]: Not easy, no.

[SI]: Especially in a business that is so traditional.

[PT]: Not easy at all.

[EC]: And also, we are looking also to the younger generation, those who are 20-30 years old.

[SI]: Of course.

[EC]: We are hoping that we can attract them to try smoking a pipe. So that could be a good way to do this for young people.

[SI]: Absolutely. And, I think a lot of us who started smoking pipes anywhere in the last 10-15 years were really hungry as a group of consumers for something different. You know, there's always going to be those who are drawn to the traditional and to the classic designs. But yeah, I think a lot of consumers out there in the last many years have looked for something unique, something new, and something maybe even a little crazy sometimes.

[EC]: Well, maybe not too crazy, but definitely something exciting and different.

[SI]: Not too much. Yeah, it still has to be done in good taste, right? But that's been really exciting. And I think a lot of people look forward to seeing the new releases every year for that reason. Guys, thank you so much for being here. I really enjoyed chatting about the brand. And let's see if we can get together again and talk a little bit more about some of the finer points.

[EC]: Thank you. See you.

[PT]: See you. Thank you very much.

[SI]: See you guys.