Teknecomp SpA, Cavaglià, Italy Quality and Quantity

The Piedmont region in Northern Italy stretches from the Southern slopes of the Alps across the upper reaches of the alluvial Po valley to beyond Turin. It is very varied, but mainly of agricultural vocation, the principal produce being wine, rice and maize. From just North of Ivrea, where the Olivetti headquarters are situated, to Cavaglia, there is a long, forested moraine called La Serra, from which the plain starts. It was on a crystal‐clear December day that we visited the Teknecomp headquarters in Cavaglia: the snow‐covered Alps beyond La Serra looked as if they were only a short distance away in the dazzling sunlight, contrasted by the intense blue of the sky. It was hard to believe that only a couple of hours beforehand we were in a howling blizzard as we entered the Grand St Bernard tunnel!