Onion Brotherhood Paolo Bruni

Paolo Bruni, president of European farming cooperatives association and also president of both Italian marketing organisation CSO and Italian fresh produce group Apo Conerpo, has been accepted as a member of the Brotherhood of the Magnificent Onion.

The historic brotherhood, a society with deep roots in the local region's agricultural history, welcomed Mr Bruni as its latest member at a ceremony held in the Carmine Church in Medicina near Bologna, during which no doubt a few tears were shed.

Mr Bruni, a man involved in many layers of the Italian fresh produce industry, was presented with a commemorative plate by Giuseppe Pasquali, president of the Medicina PGI Onion Consortium, and donned the distinctive robes alongside eight other members in attendance.

Onions produced in the region around Medicina were granted PGI certification by the European Union in 2004 and represent one of the fundamental ingredients in Bologna's world-renowned culinary heritage.