The Founder 

With me, we are the third generation of the Ricci family in the ice cream business.

I was born in Milan in 1964, and even as a kid in the late 1970s I liked to go to my dad’s workshop on Via Sirtori to do odd jobs, like helping paint car frames, and insulating ice cream counters, my favorite job dipped in that snow-white styrofoam.

Then during my mechanical engineering studies at Milan Polytechnic I kept going to the workshop to learn the trade from my father, an experienced and respected technician in the field. Unfortunately, in 1987 the sudden passing of my father left us and my brother Daniel facing a choice: liquidate everything or try to move on.

So I leave my engineering studies unfinished, which still gave me a good basic technical background, and together with Daniel we start the new company, initially with a technical partner.

It’s the 1990s, and in a short time the business of “Zuris ice cream machines” is growing worldwide expanding with branches in Russia and Argentina, and with the company’s growth comes new partners with new goals.

So it was that in 2003 I left “Zuris ice cream machines” to found Matrix Engineering s.a., based in Lugano where I moved with my family, initially with the aim of dealing with engineering and marketing of ice cream production equipment.

Business and technical skills are not lacking, so in a short time I start in the Swiss foothills of the Alps designing various models of machinery that I have made in Italy by outside suppliers. We then take a stake in a sub-supplier company, and the business develops over the years giving rise to a brand that becomes known around the world.

Thus a need arose to further expand the company, so in 2021 Matrix Gelato Machines srl was established in the province of Como, starting a 100% Matrix construction shop alongside the many time-tested suppliers to improve products and develop new lines of machinery.

Thanks to my dear father Mario, who taught me seriousness in work, and to my brother Daniele, whom I have never stopped loving and with whom we always have very good relations.