Italian food goes global: Products and services for international markets

The case of "EATALY" merits to be noticed about the agro-food world, and especially about the Italian agro-food world.
This is a high-end Italian food market chain which first opened in Turin on 1997. The founder was Oscar Farinetti and, as we can read in his website, the aim of EATALY is "challenging the idea that quality products are accessible only to a select few. Good eating and shopping is not limited to connoisseurs; it is an agricultural act we all have the right to enjoy. At EATALY, we believe that we're in this together, what you choose every day determines what we'll stock on our shelves over time. When you demand quality products, you support the local farmers, fishermen, butchers, bakers, and cheese makers who produce them and create a better environment, for eating and beyond. Eat Better, Live Better Today".

This formula has exploded in a few years and it has begun to grind Farinetti's revenues for the openings in the main centers of northern Italy and Japan. In August of 2010, it opened a new factory in New York, which brought a sales volume of 85 million of dollars and 800 employees. On 21 June 2012, the biggest point EATALY in Rome acquired the AIRTERMINAL of Ostiense, a structure that was built for the World championship in Italy on 1990 and that was decaying, but which now employs 400 people. This success led the group to 250 million euro in 2012, with an EBITDA of 10% and a total of 3000 employees. "Our missions - explains Farinetti - in addition to promoting the excellence of Italian food in the world are two: providing jobs in a country where jobs are scarce and reviving the abandoned places. And for that all profits are reinvested in the group. This year we planned openings of Bari, Florence, Milan and Piacenza in Italy, Istanbul, Dubai and Chicago abroad".
Obviously the aim of the company is precious and really innovative. The brand brings together a group of small companies operating in various sectors of the food and wine from the famous pasta of durum wheat of Gragnano, the water of the Maritime Alps in the Piedmont to the wine from Piedmont and Veneto, the oil of the Riviera of western Liguria to Piedmont beef, and even meats and cheeses from Italian tradition of Piedmont.
Anyway I think that this company it's not a good thing for the whole image of Italy, because it is wonderful only for the founder. First of all, this big company removes many possibilities also for the Italian State to create a certification or brand that could truly enhance the name of Italy. I said this principally because of the comment of expert of the agro-food sector. They, broadly, say that principally EATALY is a brilliant initiative form a commercial point of view where emerged the ability about the marketing of the founder. The cuisine is extremely simple even if the prize of a single dish is really high: for this reason it seems a research of a kind of consumers not so much experts about the quality of foods but that have to be essentially curious. Therefore this would go far from the description of the firm's aims.
Each plant is also full of expensive paintings, such as the Modigliani ones, and it's also for this that the dishes are expensive. My fear is that EATALY could damage more the image of Italian good cuisine and destroy all the steps and logics of the great Italian craftsmanship. Finally I think that the founder is commercializing the vision that the "standard" foreigner has about Italy in order to gain more possible and not to improve the image of our Country. For example, the explanation of the pasta "Barilla" on the shelving testifies to this concept: "EATALY has chosen Barilla because it represents the union of the Family and of the home". Indeed in this case it's not represented the qualitative description of the products but what it represents.
Obviously this it's not a Farinetti fault because according to me, the Italian State should intervene not only to control but principally to create a public certification that really could safeguard and improve the Italian image in the world.