Luisa Ranieri (Homicide Squad) stars as the world-famous chocolatier and fashion designer Luisa Spagnoli – now streaming only on MHz Choice!
Now Streaming!
Set in the ancient Italian town of Perugia, this two-part miniseries tells the inspirational true story of corporate pioneer Luisa Spagnoli – chocolatier, fashion designer and feminist. Born in 1877, she founded two of Perugia’s most famous companies – the candy factory Perugina and the women’s clothing company that bears her name. Founded in 1907 by Luisa and Giovanni Buitoni with just 15 employees, Perugina grew to more than 100 employees by the end of World War I. Creative and ambitious, Luisa fought to gain the respect of her male peers and to improve the lives of her employees.
She built houses and swimming pools near the factory to improve the quality of life for her employees and regularly organized leisure activities such as sports competitions, dances and parties to keep them fit and healthy. And at the start of World War I, when all of her male factory workers, including her husband, were called to the front lines, Luisa again proved to be ahead of her time. Faced with raising her two sons alone as well as running the factory, Luisa enlisted the wives of her employees to take over their husbands’ positions and opened a daycare in the factory so that her all-female staff could bring their children to work.
In 1922, Luisa created one of the most iconic chocolates in Italian history, the Baci (Kiss). Nearly 100 years later the original recipe remains unchanged: a ‘gianduia’ center speckled with hazelnut pieces, covered in Perugina’s silky dark chocolate and topped with a whole hazelnut. Finally, each Baci is wrapped in a foil wrapper and accompanied by a multi-lingual love note.
Luisa Spagnoli premieres February 28th only on MHz Choice!
Watch a 360° video tour of Baci Perugina here:
