Barilla has a fresh recipe for fast success in urban markets

Cooking Italian pasta in just five minutes at home is the new approach that Barilla Group, a 137-year-old Italian food producer, is taking to attract young urban Chinese who have a taste for Western cuisine.

On Monday, the company launched its latest innovative product known as Pasta Pronto, which is designed specifically for China market, after two years of market research. The product, containing pasta and a bag of sauce, is aimed at delivering "great-tasting, authentic, convenient" Italian meal to the modern, busy Chinese consumers, according to Barilla.

Paolo Barilla, deputy chairman of Barilla Group, said the company looked at China for several years and accumulated a deeper understanding of Chinese consumers.