1894.In Pisticci, a small town of the Lucania region in the province of Matera, Pasquale Vena created a special recipe in the backroom of his famous cookie bakery. That recipe, which is still a well-kept secret today, was for Amaro Lucano. Several years later, Amaro Lucano was a well-known and much-appreciated product in Italy. Vena’s highly successful company with its extraordinary liqueur became the official purveyor of the Savoy royal family. During World War II, business was suspended due to a lack of raw materials. Nevertheless, the extraordinary liqueur continued to make a name for itself. In the late fifties, thanks to the extraordinary work of the founder’s sons Leonardo and Giuseppe Vena, the artisan workshop became an industry and production increased sharply. Starting in the mid-sixties, sales began to rise. The farsightedness of the Vena brothers led them to invest in major advertising campaigns in Italy that further publicized Amaro Lucano and turned a local product into a liqueur that was appreciated around the globe.