Emilio Ferrari , head of durum wheat and semolina purchasing for the Barilla Group, was elected president of the Union of European Semolina Producers' Associations for the two-year period 2025-2026, upon recommendation of Italmopa-Associazione Industriali Mugnai d'Italia (FederPrima/Confindustria), during the Annual General Assembly held in Berlin. Ferrari thus succeeds Spaniard Jaume Mas, who held the position for the four-year period 2021-2024.

The European durum wheat milling industry annually processes over 8 million tons of durum wheat, approximately 60 percent of which is produced in Italy, to produce semolina, primarily for the pasta industry but also for the production of durum wheat semolina bread or couscous.

"Durum wheat faces significant challenges every year related to markets, quality, and price volatility," Ferrari emphasizes. "Today we face a new issue: politics. Wars, tariffs, political prices, and the new CAP. As European semolina producers, we are called upon to intervene decisively on this new front, coordinating national associations to support and protect our sector."