MA.RU. Two surnames. One lake. One mission.
MA for Mangraviti. RU for Ruello. Two friends who grew up on the shores of the same lake and chose to do together what their families had done alone for three centuries: hand-farm the native clams of Ganzirri with ancient tools and the pride of those who know exactly what they're bringing to the table.
Not a startup. The continuation of something that shouldn't have stopped.
Lillo Mangraviti and Salvatore Ruello have known each other since Ganzirri was just their village — before it became a nature reserve, a tourist destination, a talking point. What unites them is the lake, families of shellfish farmers, the same history rooted in the same land.
MA.RU. srl was born from the idea that what their fathers did in Lake Ganzirri deserved not just to survive, but to be told to the world. Good farming was no longer enough — quality had to become transparent, traceable, verifiable. Hence the blockchain. Hence the store. Hence this website. The name joins the first two letters of their surnames. A sigla that is also an identity.
Our Team
Lillo Mangraviti
Co-founder · Vice President Cooperative · 4th generation shellfish farme
Lillo is from Ganzirri. Not just on paper — Ganzirri is him, and he is Ganzirri. He knows every centimetre of the lake bed, knows where the rizza sleep in every season, can read the state of the water at a glance. He learned the trade as a child watching his father, who learned it watching his. Outside the water, Lillo is the social soul of the village: founding member of the Shellfish Farmers Cooperative and Pro Loco Capo Peloro, entrepreneur in tourism hospitality.
salvatore ruello
Co-founder · President Cooperative · Civil Engineer
Civil engineer, highly respected in Messina. President of the Ganzirri Shellfish Farmers Cooperative, CEO of AMAM SPA — the company that manages Messina's water supply. The man who manages a city's water understands the lake in ways few others can. In MA.RU. he brings engineering rigour: precise processes, blockchain traceability, structures built to last. The signature of someone who builds systems, not promises.
The craftsmanship of one. The rigour of the other. The lake that unites them.
It is not a division of roles — it is a complementarity. Lillo brings the lake into the room: he knows when the “rizza” is ready, he understands the seasons of the waters, and carries within his body three centuries of inherited gestures. Salvatore brings the room into the lake: he builds processes, ensures traceability, and equips tradition with the tools of the present.
lillo introduce:
Salvatore introduce:
Three things we don't negotiate.
Uncompromising craftsmanship
Calibrated rakes, manual selection, natural purification in the lake. We could mechanise. We don't — because the mechanised alternative doesn't produce the Rizza di Ganzirri.
total
trasparency
Every batch blockchain-certified. Every tray with a verifiable QR code. We don't ask for trust — we offer proof.
respect
for the lake
Lake Ganzirri is not a resource to exploit — it's MA.RU.'s silent partner. We never take more than the lake bed can give back.
Not just a company. A community that produces
MA.RU. srl is part of a larger fabric. The Ganzirri Shellfish Farmers Cooperative — of which Lillo is a founding member and Salvatore is President — is the collective that gathers the lake's producers, defends their interests and protects their tradition.
Come to ganzirri. The lake si waiting
At the MA.RU. store you can taste fresh Rizza, Fimminedda and Cocciula. You can book a guided tasting with Lillo and Salvatore. Or simply walk along the lake shore.