The Decottopia formula originated many years ago in the Langhe hills of Piedmont in Italy. The secret to this herbal medicine process was jealously guarded by a Protestant minority, which like many other minorities of the day, had found refuge in the area. As the centuries passed, these Protestants were gradually absorbed into the Catholic majority and the secret of this minority secret became the precious heritage of a handful of people alone: the Bonardo Family, which then became Balestra e Mech.

Reliable information on the herbal medicine activity of the Bonardo Family - the last exponents of the Piedmontese Decottopia process - dates back to the end of the XVIII century.

For the next one hundred years, the Bonardo Family and the Decottopia process remained in the Piedmont. Then, in 1899, Giuseppina Bonardo married Marcello Balestra, and the couple moved to the Veneto Region, where in 1911 Marcello Balestra inherited the secret of Decottopia medicinal herb preservation from his father-in-law, Giacomo Bonardo, and founded the Balestra company.

The jealous guardian and exponent of this ancient formula, the company performs its commercial activity primarily through outdoor stalls in the squares to spread its decocting-pyric products throughout the markets in the Italian cities.

In 1927, the Decottopia formula was inherited by Adelaide Balestra, the eldest daughter of Giuseppina Bonardo and Marcello Balestra, who married Rodolfo Mech in the same year.

Ever since then, the business has been known by the current name of Balestra & Mech and has been transformed into a modern, highly-organised company.