Six small colorful Leone pastille boxes stacked and fanned on a marble café table in Turin beside a round tin of pink rose candies, an espresso cup and a folded newspaper, with an arcade and gilt café mirror behind

Pastiglie Leone Guide: Turin's Pastilles Since 1857

September 9, 2026

Pastiglie Leone are small sugar pastilles from Piedmont, packed and shipped around the world at about three million little boxes a year. Leone began in 1857 in Neive, four years before the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, and by the company's account one of its first admirers was Count Cavour, the prime minister who brought that proclamation about.

Neive, 1857

Luigi Leone began making small, fragrant digestive pastilles in 1857 at an osteria, a country inn, in Neive, to finish the meal for the inn's regular customers. The first flavors, by the company's account, were mint, cinnamon and clove.

Neive is a hill village in the province of Cuneo, set between the last Langhe hills of the Moscato country and the hills of Monferrato. It is one of the four communes of the Barbaresco wine zone, with Barbaresco, Treiso and part of Alba. The same hills grow the Piedmont IGP hazelnut and the Alba truffle, the autumn produce described in the Piedmont in Autumn guide.

Cavour's violets

By the company's account, Count Camillo Benso di Cavour was among Leone's first admirers, and his weakness was the violet gommose, soft violet gums. Cavour was the Piedmontese prime minister who brought about the proclamation of Victor Emmanuel II as King of Italy on March 17, 1861. He was born in Turin in 1810 and died there in 1861, the year of the proclamation. Victor Emmanuel II had designated him president of the council, the head of government, in November 1852, and the Treccani encyclopedia describes his work as turning the Kingdom of Sardinia into the Kingdom of Italy.

Turin, 1861 and 1934

By the company's account, Luigi Leone opened his first shop in Turin in 1861, the year the kingdom was proclaimed, and the shop went on to become an official supplier to the Royal House of Savoy. Turin was then the capital of the new Italy, a role it held for only four years, from 1861 to 1865, before passing it to Florence.

In 1934 the entrepreneur Giselda Balla Monero bought the historic confectionery, moved production to the historic plant on Corso Regina Margherita in Turin and backed the brand with new advertising. The company also credits her with new packaging. In 2006 production moved to a more modern plant in Collegno, on the edge of Turin. Michela Petronio and Luca Barilla bought the company in 2018. In 2026 Leone opened its Fabbrica della Felicità in Collegno, more than 7,000 square meters of production, museum and visitor space.

How a Leone pastille is made

The process starts cold. Powdered sugar is mixed with gum arabic and gum tragacanth, then with water, fruit juices, essential oils, extracts and natural colorings. The paste is rolled into a sheet, stamped by old bronze molds that mark each pastille with the company's L, and then dried, the stage the company credits for the pastille's fragrance. The same method now carries flavors far from the first three, and the company's current range includes mixed refreshing, spritz, mojito and violet pastilles.

Leone and Italy, side by side

Year	Leone	Italy and Turin
1857	Luigi Leone makes digestive pastilles at an osteria in Neive
1861	First Turin shop, by the company's account	Kingdom of Italy proclaimed on March 17; Turin becomes capital; Cavour dies in Turin
1865		The capital passes from Turin to Florence
1934	Giselda Balla Monero buys the company and moves production to Corso Regina Margherita, Turin
2006	Production moves to Collegno
2018	Michela Petronio and Luca Barilla buy the company
2026	The Fabbrica della Felicità opens in Collegno

Set side by side, the dates put the opening of Leone's first Turin shop in 1861, the first of Turin's four years as the national capital. From the inn at Neive in 1857 to the Collegno factory in 2026 is 169 years, and the company has changed hands only twice in the dates it publishes, in 1934 and 2018.

The flavors by name

Each flavor goes by its Italian name. Strawberry is Fragola (shop Leone strawberry pastilles) and orange is Arancia (shop Leone orange pastilles). Wild berry is Frutti di Bosco (shop Leone wild berry pastilles), tangerine is Mandarino (shop Leone tangerine pastilles) and balsamic is Balsamica (shop Leone balsamic pastilles).

Leone also makes tondini, hard candies sold in a 5.3-ounce tin. The rose tondini (shop Leone rose tondini) can go out at the end of a dinner beside chocolate and biscotti, a plate the six no-bake dessert plates guide builds. Another historic European confectioner is profiled in the Les Anis de Flavigny producer guide.

Shop the candy collection. The shop is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, where visitors can ask staff questions, and products ship nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com.