Vecchia Orsa
The path of Vecchia Orsa: the social craft brewery.
The story begins in 2007 when in a little country house in Crevalcore, Bologna, the craft brewery Orsetta Vecchia was born. It was the creation of the non-profit social cooperative FattoriAbilità to start a craft workshop where they could also include disadvantaged and mildly disabled workers. In 2018, after becoming well-known in the region for his effort, the company joined the social cooperative Arca di Noè, which promotes values of labour and social inclusion.
Later the 2012 earthquake, the factory moved to San Giovanni in Persiceto, under the name of Vecchia Orsa, showing a concrete example of rebuilding and resilience. There lives a brewpub where you can taste beers tapped directly from the brewery and try typical food products. Another essential feature is the focus on ecology and sustainability; the brewery uses energy from renewable sources and recycles beer residues for bread and tigelle production.
The key words that guide the company are passion and engagement: the passion for beer and engagement for social inclusion and ecology. Employees with disabilities bottle, label, and enhance every Vecchia Orsa product. The work is also an opportunity for autonomy, fulfilment, and participation in social life. Since the beginning, the main goal has been to produce high-quality craft beer involving people with disabilities as workers and the finest raw materials.
Water, malt, and hops are the leading ingredients of the recipe behind awards-winning craft beers. Vecchia Orsa pays close attention to sustainability and the quality of raw materials; it relies on certified producers and control bodies such as CCPB to inspect the origin of commodities.
The innovation brought forward into Vecchia Orsa is embodied in its logo: a footprint, step by step, made a path everybody can follow. Vecchia Orsa confirmed his engagement by making the first certified 100% biological beer in Emilia Romagna. The next step will be to make a 100% organic Italian beer.
