Pandoro (Italian:[panˈdɔːro]) is anItaliansweet bread, most popular aroundChristmas andNew Year. Typically a product of the city ofVerona, Veneto,pandoro traditionally has an eight-pointed shape.[2] It is often dusted with vanilla scentedicing sugar, which is said to resemble the snowy peaks of theAlps during Christmas. Its name and origins are attributed to the Italian pastry chefDomenico Melegatti [it].[1]
The first citation of a dessert clearly identified aspandoro dates to the 18th century. The dessert certainly figured in the cuisine of the Venetian aristocracy.Venice was the principal market for spices as late as the 18th century, as well as for the sugar that by then had replaced honey in European pastries and bread made from leavened dough. It was atVerona, in Venetian territory, that the formula for makingpandoro was developed and perfected, a process that required a century. The modern history of this dessert bread began there on October 30, 1894, when Domenico Melegatti obtained a patent for a procedure to be applied in producingpandoro industrially. Domenico Melegatti formed apandoro company in 1894,[3]Melegatti [it], which was declared bankrupt on 29 May 2018,[4][5] despite a Maltese equity fund funded Christmas 2017 direct-to-retail campaign.[6] The feuding Ronca (70%) and Turco (30%) families from the Verona area brought Melegatti to crisis.[7] In 2018, the Spezzapria family bought the company assets of Melegatti 1894S.p.A. from bankruptcy trustees for €13.5m, as the only bidder in the second auction, the first auction ended with no bidders.[8] In 2025, the assets of Melegatti 1894 S.p.A. were acquired by IrishValeo Foods, aBain Capital company.[9][3]
Di Giovine, Elia (1989).Pandoro. Successo segreto di un dolce dalle origini alla fase industriale [Pandoro. Secret success of a sweet from its origins to mass production] (in Italian). Gemma Editco.ISBN8889125284.
Lo Russo, Giuseppe (2004).Dolce Natale (in Italian). Fratelli Alinari.ISBN8872924731.
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