Gianluigi Zenti is Group MRA’s Managing Director in Italy, where he manages the Italian clientele and is the conduit between them and their American operations.

His career evolved with different roles of increasing responsibility within the Barilla Group. He joined the company in 1991 as an Export Area Manager for the US, where he was assigned to grow Barilla America in conjunction with Group MRA. This project was the foundation of the enormous success that Barilla America has achieved ever since in this market. In 1997, Gianluigi was promoted to General Manager of Barilla America and, in 1999, Director of the Global Food Service Business Unit. From 2002 and until 2016, he led the team, and eventually became President and CEO of Academia Barilla - a new business unit with the aim of bringing Barilla to become the brand for Italian culinary culture in the world by offering exclusive products and services.

Gianluigi holds a degree in agricultural sciences at University of Milan and a Master’s in Agricultural Economics at University of Cremona (SMEA) and University of Guelf (Ontario, Canada). He has also magnified his educational background with marketing and agribusiness qualifications from Columbia and Harvard Business Schools.

He lives in Montechiarugolo, near Parma, with his wife Paola and his children Giulio and Federica.