The well-known newspaper reports on the essence of our company, some examples of market challenges and mentions the latest projects undertaken.
Il Sole 24 Ore explains how our company is able to promote wineries, even niche ones, around the world. The key to our success is to establish a dialogue based fundamentally on listening to the needs and tastes of different customers. The article goes on to give some practical examples of challenges affecting the market and specifically what has influenced export performance in 2022. The newspaper also talks about the latest ambitious plan we have embarked on: Sapiens Spirits.
Full article below.
You could call them ‘export angels’: they are the realities that connect Italian food producers with customers and international markets hungry for Italian-made food. They apply different business models but function in a similar way, as true ‘business accelerators’ for companies that want to move into the global market. Whether it is a matter of entering new markets or channels, finding customers or consolidating their presence or reputation in countries where they are already present, being able to count on specialised and dedicated export management companies makes all the difference.
Gsl Export, from industrial supplies to food
Expertise is not invented overnight but is capitalised over time, as is happening at the Gsl Export Consortium which, after 20 years of activity in the world of industrial subcontracting, two years ago decided to enter the world of food with a dedicated project. “We realised that, while in the subcontracting sector it was becoming increasingly difficult to remain competitive on the international market, in the food sector the demand for Italian products was flourishing,’ says president Cinzia Gagliani. ‘So we tried to aggregate small companies representing the best regional Italian production. The proposal was accepted by some thirty companies, ranging from Sicilian pistachios to artisan pasta from Gragnano, from taggiasche olives to pomodorini del piennolo, for which this non-profit consortium is organising the landing on the rich markets of the Arabian Gulf through a local trader, sharing costs and procedures against a fee on sales, when they are concluded.
Gourm.it, from the union of five Mantuan dairies
With the same objective of creating a service structure for exports, in 2020 five Mantuan dairies founded the Gourm.it consortium. We started out by targeting niche distributors and specialised retailers, and then we also began to dialogue with international large-scale retail chains,” explains Alberto Gandolfi, president of Gourm.it, which in 2021 achieved a turnover of 10 million euro (90% of exports, in 38 countries) and is growing by another 20% this year, also in terms of volume. From Parmigiano Reggiano to burrata, from mostarda mantovana to bottarga di muggine, the consortium is able to offer international customers a complete catalogue of Italian cheeses and food specialities. And to support Italian companies in sales abroad: from consulting on the necessary certifications to organising the logistics of goods.
“Our ability has also been to insert ourselves in segments that are of little interest to large exporters but very interesting to retailers, such as speciality and niche products, organic or halal and kosher certified products,” Gandolfi adds. This scouting activity, which is also able to offer tailor-made solutions and own-brand lines, is making Gourm.it grow: in 2021 it set up its first subsidiary in the UK to help exports after Brexit.
Edoardo Freddi explores new wine markets
Behind the success and worldwide renown of many Italian wines is Edoardo Freddi International, an export management company that exclusively represents 40 Italian wineries (latest new entries Feudi di San Gregorio and Lea Winery) and that in 2021 marketed 28 million bottles worth 65 million euro (65% GDO and retail, 30% horeca and 5% online), collecting a fee on sales of 2.5 million euro.
“Italian wine companies need to work as a system because the market is global and challenging, especially for the medium-small ones, since the company size is even more important than in the past,” explains Edoardo Freddi, who works both with strong and structured realities, which want to become leaders, and with emerging companies, with good potential, and which want to be more performing. From direct relations with exporters to operational trade marketing to lobbying on the main world guides, Edoardo Freddi International has continued to expand, year after year, in an organic way.
Even in this complicated 2022, despite the Russian unknown and the problems with transport, which cause delays in deliveries, expansion is continuing with the opening of interesting markets, such as Poland and Vietnam, and the growth of those with as yet unexpressed potential, such as the Baltic countries. In the meantime, for the past few months Freddi has been engaged in a new challenge: the launch of Italian artisanal spirits in the world, entrusted to the newly founded export management company Sapiens Spirits.