The Fernet Museum

The Branca collection opens its doors to the public and tells the story of the company that since 1835 and over five generations, has been known throughout the world as the inventor of Fernet. Text Elena Sommariva

With an interesting and engrossing display of medals, portraits, beautiful posters from the end of the 19th century by the likes of Metlicovitz, Codognato and Cappiello, spices and roots from four continents, the Branca collection opens its doors to the public (visits are by prior booking). The exhibition tells the story of the company - now lead by Conte Niccolò Branca, the great-great-grandson of its founder, Bernardino – that since 1835 and over five generations, has been known throughout the world as the inventor of Fernet, a bitter tonic – drunk as an aperitif or after dinner –with health-giving properties whose formula still today remains a secret. The company museum is in the historic Milan factory in via Resegone, 2, 1000 square metres inside a complex extending over 23,000 square metres designed and built between 1908 and 1913 that is still the operative premises for the distilleries and whose cellar – below the traffic of the Milan ring-road – conceals 500 oak barrels, up to 8 metres high, where Fernet and brandy are left to age for between one and three years. Here, around a hundred employees also work on the production of other liquors acquired by the company over the years (such as Carpano, Punt & Mes and Borghetti), while another hundred workers are employed in the Argentinean factory in Buenos Aires, where the company also cultivates camomile and bay leaves. Branca is an exemplary firm for many reasons: it is a family company and successful manufacturer, it has always invested in culture and communication, is faithful to the motto “novare serbando”, innovate through conservation. This much was shown in the restoration of the Torre Branca by Gio Ponti in Milan and the Museum of Modern Art in the old Fernet-Branca distillery of Saint Louis in France and for the Museo Carpano in Turin. What is more, as the curator of the museum, Marco Ponzano explains, despite being international, “we do not violate any market”. On show, as proof of his words, is the book Attraverso il mondo, published to place Fernet in the context of the customs and traditions of various countries: from Argentina, where they drink it with Coca Cola and call it Fernandito, to China, where it is appreciated for its herbal and curative properties, and the United States where it is experiencing a new season associated with the concept of wellbeing.