The story behind Amaro Lucano

Pasquale Vena was born in 1871 and, in his teens, went to Naples with his brothers, ready to set sail for America and seek their fortune. Unlike his brothers, he stayed in Naples where he worked at a famous confectionery shop. Once he had mastered confectionary he returned to his home town of Pisticci and started making biscuits.

Biscuit making proved a successful business and is his spare time he indulged his passion for herbology: experiment with different combinations of herbal infusions to create a delicious liqueur. In 1894, after much trial and error, he created the blend that became Amaro Lucano.

His new liqueur quickly became well known, so much so that it was served in the royal House of Savoy, leading the King to award Pasquale the Order of Merit. Along with the title, in the 1900s, his small company became official supplier to the Savoy Royal family early.

After a period of expansion, paused by the Second World War, Pasquale's two sons joined the company. Leonardo mainly took care of administration and production, while Giuseppe travelled around Italy in a small van, selling Amaro Lucano and other products made by his family. Together, they built a cottage industry from their home in Pisticci, and in the 1950s, their production reached 3,000 bottles of Lucano a year. In 1965, production moved to the new plant in Pisticci Scalo, enabling a huge growth to a record 117,000 litres of Amaro Lucano per year.

Over the decades, the label has been updated, but it has always depicted women wearing the traditional dress of Pisticci carrying a basket of freshly picked herbs. In the 1980s, Amaro Lucano boomed in popularity thanks to an advertising campaign, mostly on television, with the strapline: "What else do you want from life? A Lucano!"

Leonardo's son, Pasquale Vena, the founder's grandson, joined the business and now runs it with his wife Rosistella and children Leonardo, Francesco, and Letizia, representing the fourth generation of the Vena family.