A fascinating past filled with authenticity, taste, values and emotions
The long-standing brand Tre Marie is a symbol of traditional Milanese confectionery and a byword for high-quality cakes, carefully and competently prepared by hand.
Tre Marie’s story began on 1150 in Milan. when some knights returned to Milan from the Holy Land and founded one of the oldest charitable associations: the Bakery of “Quattro Marie”, in the centre of Milan. It offered flour and bread to those in need in exchange for special copper coins. The adepts called “elemosinari” looked for have-nots to give them the copper coins named after the Bakery and depicted Four “Marys”, in honour of the four pious women of Holy Bible. Coins were used to get food and drinks from the Bakery.
Today, in remembrance of our origins, the Bakery’s coin portraying the Four “Marys” is still printed on the packaging of all of our products, as a symbol of generosity and sharing.Later, the image of the Virgin Mary was separated from the three others as a sign of respect and the mark was modified to the current image of the “Tre Marie”.
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1896
During the years Tre Marie Bakery improved its know-how and became the Tre Marie’s Confectioner’s. It soon gained an excellent reputation for the exceptional quality of its products. It became a popular meeting place for intellectuals and ladies of Milan’s high society, during the Belle Époque. Its speciality was Panettone, a typical Christmas Milanese cake.
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1960
On the beginning of the 60s, the owner of Tre Marie Enzo Ricci, grandson of Luigi, sent 150 hand-written letters to the best confectioner’s shops in Italy, offering them exclusive Panettone sales rights for their local area. This very successful idea immediately made the company a leading player in the market.
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1970
During the 1970s, the company started producing ice cream and fresh confectionery in addition to its Panettone. A few years later, its innovative capacity and great knowledge of the art of confectionery were behind the creation of the first frozen croissant. This opened up a new market and Tre Marie helped to introduce a new way of eating out for breakfast.
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TODAY
From then on, it was easy for an ever growing number of cafés and confectioner’s stores to offer fragrant products fresh from the oven.
