Giuseppe Alberti, father of Strega liqueur, opened a café in the main square of Benevento, which would become the meeting place for liberal thinkers of the period. He began producing Strega in 1860, and it was named for the legend claiming that the city of Benevento was the site of witchcraft rituals. His children consolidated the business and expanded production of the liqueur to new markets. In 1947, on the initiative of Maria and Goffredo Bellonci and Guido Albert, the Premio Strega was invented, which is the most important Italian literary award. In the economic boom years Strega became popular abroad with production in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Buenos Aires. Later the Alberti sweet industry began, with Strega nougat, chocolates with and without Strega, and speciality cakes like caprese, pannocchio, colomba, panettone and pandoro, naturally with Strega. These have recently been joined by a gluten-free range.
