Cetawico is an enterprise in the fullest sense of the word: a commercial activity and a social commitment. It produces organic wine at 1100m above sea level, on a plateau in Tanzania approximately 700Km south of the equator.
The company began, almost by chance, when Fiorenzo Chesini, an engineer and entrepreneur, took up the challenge of digging a water borehole near Hombòlo village, on behalf of the Fondazione San Zeno of Verona, Italy, a humanitarian organization which works in four continents. As soon as he arrived, Chesini made what was for him an extraordinary discovery.
In Hombòlo, In the Dodoma region, an Italian missionary fifteen years earlier had started an experiment which bordered on the impossible: to plant vines and make wine.
He had even succeeded, but was then sent to another mission and had to leave his vineyards in hands with much less expertise. Chesini, who had designed several automation systems for important Italian wineries, thought that the experiment could be expanded, because he was convinced that the quantity could be increased and the quality of the product improved.
The Fondazione San Zeno accepted the challenge, financed the operation and helped set up a new company: managed by Fiorenzo Chesini and the Tanzanian founding partners. This was the beginning of the Central Tanzania Wine Company (Cetawico).
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