They are usually sold in the plain durum wheat variety, and also in colored varieties which use natural pigments, such as tomato extract, squid ink or spinach extract.

Conchiglie are claimed to have been traced back to southern Italy, where they were traditionally made using durum wheat semolina.

celebrated the Italian colonial empire with new pasta shapes recalling the African lands: tripoline (Tripoli), bengasine (Bengasi), assabesi (Assab), and abissine (Abissinia).

In 2021, after an outcry in objection to pasta brand La Molisana's advertising campaign, abissine' were renamed as "conchiglie".

[3][4] However, some complained, claiming this renaming constituted cancel culture.