All about Snails: with the Cherasco System, the future is a Helicoidal Economy!

 An informative day about the Cherasco system was held in Tbilisi at the Radisson Hotel Iveria on June 4. Participation was free and open. The president of the Heliciculture Institute, Sampò stated, “I am happy with such enthusiastic involvement of the Georgian people in the project and I hope that the State will continue to promote the strength of this entrepreneurial system with my Institute.” The future is a Helicoidal Economy!

The Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco project was born in 2016 as an evolution of the International Institute of Heliciculture history and decades of experience in the field of natural breeding of snails, or rather “Chiocciole breeding.”

The first major act of change was the creation and implementation of Production Regulations dedicated to the investors. It has been empirically confirmed that respecting and complying with these regulations can lead to the success of entrepreneurial activity at all levels.

Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco immediately proved to be the best natural breeding system. By applying the best merging techniques between agronomy and zootechnics, we created a system able to adapt to the microclimate, particularly sensitive to an animal’s biology as well as to environmental sustainability: a selected totally vegetarian diet, a low water consumption and the respect for earth, have naturally led to a raw material of undeniable excellence – Quality prevailed over quantity.

The Italian market responded positively, and the Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco immediately obtained a prominent place in the Made in Italy gastronomic production. This has led to an increase in the Research & Development activities in the production and food transformation – much research has been done in the improvement of the production sites that have experienced and continue to experience a moment of technological advancement, as well as the areas dedicated to slaughtering and processing – and in the field dedicated to the slime extraction and to cosmetic and pharmaceutical production.

The Chiocciola/snail immediately proved to be a concrete symbol of a helical economic system. Each part of the snail is part of a system of auto regeneration and transformation of material without any waste: we use the finely chopped shells to create body scrubs, or products for dentists exploiting in this case the richness in calcium, the eggs are destined for gourmand dishes, the intestines are sold as food for pigeon and trout farms for their high protein value, as for the meat that is also very rich in proteins, it is used in the creation of dishes that translate the quality of gastronomic tradition with the research and experimentation of new dishes such as the Escargot Burger which satisfies the express catering needs and open us to a new and more pop target.

The consolidation of the Muller extraction process

The resources used in the study and research in the technological field have led to the worldwide recognition of Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco and the International Institute of Heliciculture: aware of the enormous potential represented by the virtuous exploitation of all the resources of the heliciculture world, we have created the extraction system with Muller Technology. We wanted to abolish the low quality that was obtained with manual extraction methods and therefore to standardize “high quality” through a totally digital extraction protocol with remote assistance. In just four years, three types of advanced machinery have been introduced to the market:

• Muller Smart – 1 dome for farms up to 80 enclosures – capacity 12 kg of live snails. 1.75 laters of slime in 1 hour.
• Muller One Evolution – 2 domes for farms up to 200 enclosures – It represents the most recognised model in the world and cited by the best and most important international media: CNN – BCC – TV FRANCE – DW GERMANY – TELEGRAPH THE GUARDIAN – THE RINGER – NEW YORK POST etc – capacity 20 kg of live snails, 3.15 l/h of slime.
• Muller Fibonacci – 6 domes for farms over 250 enclosures, capacity 60 kg of live snails 12 l/h of slime. It is a fully automated machine that allows you to extract industrial quantities of slime.

From extraction to cosmetic and pharmaceutical production

Always with a vision of entrepreneurial expansion and in order to continue to be the institutional figure that follows the path of snail breeding from the field to the final consumer, the International Institute has decided to invest in the creation of an internal cosmetics department: where the slime obtained from the Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco farms and extracted with the Muller technology is transformed into a cosmetic and pharmaceutical line of the highest quality. Furthermore, the collaboration with Italian Universities and Research centers allows us to continuously discover and experiment with new possibilities of using snail slime: today we are working on the exploitation of slime in the conservation sector of edible products, it’s an application in the fitness field through the production of energy bars, as well as a gastro-protector included in ice cream for children.

Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco crosses the Italian borders.

From 2016 till today, under the tireless guidance of the Director Simone Sampò and the continuous assistance of the staff of the institute in Italy, Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco has landed in over 18 countries in the world with the aim of identifying the most welcoming from the climatic and business partnerships point of view, in order to implement what must be considered the main need of the current market: increase production in order to gain new market shares. For climatic reasons, we had to exclude those countries where the outdoor farming system promoted by our Institute turned out to be less effective due to rigid climate, like Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, Norway, Iceland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. However, this did not prevent the expansion of our Institute which in January 2021, while the world seemed to have stopped due to the pandemic, decided to concretely address the countries identified as the most similar in both climatic and cultural terms, Georgia and Ireland, exporting not only our know-how but also providing assistance and training on the territory.

Why did we choose Georgia as a partner country?

We have identified in Georgia several essential characteristics for the success of our Production Regulations:
• Ideal climate
• Structurally compliant soils
• Large quantities of water at low cost
• Cheap man labor (6 times lower than in Italy or Ireland)

From 2018 till today: the reaction to the global pandemic

The first project on the Georgian territory took shape in 2018, the year in which the partnership with the Nadi Group Company was born, which became the spokesperson for the Cherasco Method, our Institute and Lumacheria Italiana srl, creating the first small farm in khobi region with 230 enclosures on an extension of 5.5 hectares.

The farm grew directly under the leadership of President Simone Sampò, who deserves the undisputed recognition and merit of being the innovator of the natural and sustainable Heliciculture system in the world.

The constant training visits and assistance in the field of Nadi group’s farm were fundamental for the creation of a calendar completely adapted to Georgia, a real site-specific breeding system. These first operations in the field proved to be fundamental in the management of remote work caused by the inability to travel for over 12 months after the Covid pandemic situation. And the synchronized communication between our institute and the Nadi Group, and the digital assistance also ensured that the expansion process of the Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco system does not suffer forced stops. Nadi Group and the Institute have in fact inaugurated in these years 20 small and medium farms.

The next steps of consolidation

This April we were finally able to return to Georgian territory with a first trip that was an opportunity to meet current and future helicicultures as well as representatives of the political world, Minister of Agriculture Levan Davitashvili, the Italian Ambassador Enrico Valvo and the Chairperson of Committee on Agrarian Issues – Parliament of Georgia Nino Tsisolani.

The dialogue with investors and institutions naturally leads us today to the need of a Georgian office of the InternationalInstitution of Heliciculture in order to develop the Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco system proposed by our institute, and guarantee the withdrawal, transformation and trade of Georgian products which will be exported to Italy and satisfy the demand of a market that currently doesn’t reach the desired percentages.

The analyses that were carried out make us declare with all certainty that in 5 years we foresee a development of over 3000 farms on an extension of over 3500 hectares, with an increase in employment of 80.000 units on a population of 4.500.000, and an induced profit exceeding €500,000.00.
We are sure as well that the great synergy developed between our two countries will lead to the consolidation of a Helicoidal Economic System without any subjection defects between Italy and Georgia, but rather united in the belief that when Culture meets Culture, the benefits are distributed uniformly to all actors involved.

The Tbilisi Institute of Heliciculture is born

The imminent opening of the headquarters of the Institute of Heliciculture in Tbilisi marks the beginning of a collaboration of joint Italian-Georgian investments that will mark a new era of natural breeding in the world, and will be the spirit of the Helicoidal system, where the material will have to be regenerated in many sectors of the economy. The important agreements closed in the last few months will bring important investments in the creation of several departments of the Cherasco Method in Georgia, from numerous heliciculture farms, to food processing sites to storage sites, to departments of slime extraction to cosmetic and pharmaceuticals production sites. Precisely the creation of storage sites with relative cold refrigerated rooms will allow small investors and/or owners of small funds to approach this business.
To conclude, President Simone Sampò makes the words of Minister Davitashvili his own: “another Italian excellence is approaching Georgia after wine and hazelnuts, Chiocciola Metodo Cherasco will also allow us to share numerous successes under the banner of the collaboration of 2 countries.”

This collaboration will not only lead to an economical development, but more importantly to an ethical and cultural ones that will involve various sectors: agriculture, livestock, food sector, innovation and technology, raw materials, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, wellness, tourism, culture, art, architecture, education for children, social therapy for the weaker groups and events.

Some anticipation

The Helix 2021 event will take place in Cherasco between 15 and 18 October 2021: during the festival the Golden snail award will be awarded to those who have distinguished themselves for their valuable contribution to the themes of heliciculture. In light of the current and growing partnership with Georgia and with Minister Davitashvili, the Golden snail prize will be awarded to the minister and the entire Georgian territory during the gala dinner on Friday October 15, for their precious contribution to the sector of international heliciculture and for having supported the dialogue between Italy and Georgia. It is therefore the firm intention of our institute to export the Helix event in the city of Tbilisi in 2022 to celebrate the great collaboration between the two countries.