Alberto and Olimpio Pandolfini and the Mattei Branch in Florence

Prato Biscuits are made in Prato.
But there was a brief, significant chapter in our history, between 1925 and 1928, when Mattei biscuits and other specialties from our bakery were also produced in Florence, at Via Tosinghi No. 1. A historic and little-known branch that reveals much about the identity of the Antonio Mattei brand and the importance of our deep connection to the territory where it all began.

On 13th May 1925, our grandfather Ernesto Pandolfini and his brother Alberto signed a private agreement that marked the start of a new adventure: the opening of a Mattei branch in Florence.

The management of the branch was entrusted to Alberto and their half-brother Olimpio, son of Tommaso Pandolfini’s second wife. But the agreement included a crucial clause: the use of the name “Ditta Antonio Mattei di Prato – Florence branch” was allowed only if the original characteristics of the products were strictly respected. A decision we might today call brand protection, but even then it reflected a clear desire to preserve authenticity and continuity, even in an urban context quite different from Prato.

With the support of Egisto Ciampolini, Alberto and Olimpio began producing almond biscuits (now famously known as cantuccini) and other Mattei specialties, doing their utmost to faithfully reproduce the original recipes. These products could be purchased both at the shop on Via Tosinghi in Florence and at the Prato train station. Although no packaging from the Florence shop has survived, we know that the biscuits were wrapped in a blue parchment bag very similar to the one still in use today—with slightly different text, and certainly without the phrase “the company has no branch stores...” which is clearly visible in the lower part of the original bag.

By late 1927, or shortly thereafter, the “Florentine chapter” came to an end.
In a registered letter dated December 17, 1927, Ernesto wrote to his brother Alberto:

 “A woman came into my shop in Prato and showed me a Mantovana (...) wrapped in blue parchment paper with the label: Ditta Antonio Mattei, successor Egisto Ciampolini – branch Via Tosinghi 1, Florence (...) I found that the Mantovana had not been made with its proper characteristics (...). I have observed this many times, based on complaints from numerous customers regarding the quality of the products made in Florence. As this situation seriously damages the good name of the company (...) and since the terms of our May 13, 1925 agreement have not been respected, I hereby formally demand that you cease operations and stop using the Mattei name.”

Alberto, though reluctantly, accepted the situation. He too had come to recognize that the biscuits and other specialties made in Florence simply didn’t turn out like those baked in Prato. And so, the branch was closed. Alberto returned to the Mattei bakery in Prato, where he worked alongside the family until old age.

Moral of the story: We prefer to keep making our biscuits where they turn out best!
In 2018—almost a century later (and not by chance, once again in May)—we opened a new Mattei branch in Florence. This time, however, we chose Via Porta Rossa, where today you can visit a small museum dedicated to the history of one of Italy’s oldest biscuit bakeries still in operation.
And of course, you’ll find all our specialties, freshly brought in from Prato every day.

We warmly invite you to come and visit us!

Mattei Museum & Shop, Via Porta Rossa 76/r: open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 AM – 7 PM | closed on Mondays

Letizia Pandolfini