Δείτε εδώ την ειδική έκδοση

Matteo Renzi's favourite deli man

Not long before Matteo Renzi became Italy's youngest prime minister in history at 39 years old, he declared that if he were not Matteo Renzi he would like to be Oscar Farinetti.

Mr Farinetti is the entrepreneur behind Eataly, the upscale Italian food market chain, one of whose best-known stores is a partnership with American super chef Mario Batali on New York's 5th Avenue. In a decade, Mr Farinetti has opened more than 25 Eataly stores purveying Italian cuisine and foodstuffs around the world.

That comment from Mr Renzi, whose centre-left Democrats won a landslide victory in the European elections last week, ref­lects a growing regard for Mr Farinetti in Italy. Balding with a dark moustache, he is regularly called a genius by other Italian business leaders. Under the banner "Italy is Eataly", Mr Farinetti, 59, has created a business empire by tapping into what could be seen as Italy's most prevalent natural resource: food. He has become a standard bearer for an entrepreneurial trend also espoused by Mr Renzi which holds that "beauty" - for which read food, fashion, art, design, tourism and premium manufacturing - can boost Italy's laggard economy.

"How much did Eataly in New York do for Italy's image? I think it's worth three agriculture ministers. It made bella figura [a good impression] for Italians in the world," says Mr Farinetti in Eataly's Milan store.

In person, Mr Farinetti is straight- talking, disruptive and by turns abrupt and charming, qualities that have earned him a depiction as Mr Renzi's business alter ego. He speaks fast and in superlatives. Like Mr Renzi, he has brought swagger back to being Italian. In a country where looking at life as a glass half empty can be a badge of honour, Mr Farinetti projects relentless optimism and drive. Time in his company feels like getting a shot of adrenalin.

Eataly is based on his own outlook. Mr Farinetti considers Italy a country blessed with two great resources: the artistic legacy of the Italian Renaissance and a natural biodiversity. The two together gave birth to a hugely varied cuisine that is ideal for selling to foreigners.

"We have crazy amount of art treasures in this country and a crazy amount of biodiversity," he says.

Italian cuisine is also a perfect business offering because it is "replicable, compared with the French which was born in restaurants", he says. "You can have a good plate of spaghetti in a restaurant and the great thing is that you can go home, get some olive oil, some basil and the right tomato sauce and you can replicate it. If you eat a great foie gras in a French restaurant, you come home and if you try to recreate it, you end up banging your head against the wall," he says.

His method has traction. There are 13 Eataly stores in Japan, two in the US, in New York and Chicago, one each in Dubai and Istanbul, and 11 in Italy. Mr Farinetti plans to open in Sao Paulo and in Moscow, and expects Eataly to reach London in 2015 via a joint venture with Selfridges, the department store group.

With typical firmness, Mr Farinetti declares: "We are the sons of Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus. We can appeal to consumers both in the west and in the east, we have a revolving door in two directions."

This year, Eataly expects revenues to reach at least €400m, with about €45m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. The sales come not only from the Eataly stores but from its role as distributor of many of the brands it sells. Mr Farinetti is also owner of the Borgogno and Fontanafredda estates that produce versions of Barolo, Italy's "king of wines", which he sells in about 100 countries.

<

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

>In this way, Eataly gives small Italian producers access to a large Italian distributor, and works as a distribution network for Mr Farinetti's brands.

The food at Eataly is influenced by the style of Mr Farinetti's native Piedmont in the north of the country, where his father fought Italian fascists and Nazi forces during the second world war. The family home town is Alba, the tiny capital of a rich gastronomic territory that gave birth to the now global "slow food" movement as well as Ferrero, the confectionery multinational that is behind Nutella, Tic Tacs and Ferrero Rocher.

However, Mr Farinetti is a serial entrepreneur, whose first business was not food, but washing machines. He made his first fortune with his family's financial backing by creating UniEuro, the white goods chain which he sold to Dixons of the UK in 2001 for about €500m.

He brought to white goods the fervour he subsequently applied to food. "When I see a washing machine, I see a magic box. That's what I sold. I felt like I was a wizard. That's what I've always tried to do in my life: put a bit of poetry into the things that I'm doing," he says.

Mr Farinetti plans to list about a third of Eataly on the Milan stock exchange after the World Fair opens in the city in May 2015. The event will focus on global nutrition and is expected to give another fillip to the Italian food industry.

Many expect politics may be his next step. Mr Farinetti met Mr Renzi while he was scouting for a site for Eataly in Florence and found the city's then mayor smart and "fast". They struck up a friendship. Mr Farinetti says he has never provided Mr Renzi with financial backing but frequently shares his views.

"We need to double tourism in Italy, we can double our export of food and agriculture products, we need to open up other industries of fashion, design, industrial manufacturing. And if we manage this we will bring the country to another renaissance," he says.

As for Mr Renzi's appreciation? "It was just a quip. It was a quip based on mutual appreciation. It seems to me that [this] young man has clear ideas, and he has the energy to combat the stagnation of the country, and he has the energy to force renewal of the political class,"

"In the end, humanity is always saved by beauty," he adds.

Exports on a plate

An Eataly store, which feels like a mix between Whole Foods Market, the upmarket US grocery chain, and a high-end Italian delicatessen, is also a spectacle that appeals to all the senses. It taps into the consumer trend for "experience" better than any other Italian brand apart, perhaps, from Ferrari. It is also not cheap. Tortelli di zucca all Mantovana (pumpkin-stuffed pasta) - or cacio e pepe (spaghetti, cracked pepper and cheese) - at Eataly in Rome will set you back about €20.

"We have the greatest artistic heritage in the world. And yet Rome has 7.8m tourists visiting a year, and London has 20m. Without taking anything from London, everyone would say that Rome is way more beautiful. But London is 10 times better than us in marketing itself," Mr Farinetti says.

At Eataly NYC, about 50 per cent of the food it sells uses American ingredients. Mr Farinetti considers it "absurd to export, milk and flour, it is ridiculous to export fruit and vegetables. But it makes sense to export parmesan cheese."

Every morning mozzarella arrives from Salerno in southern Italy but Eataly also produces mozzarella made with US milk and "Italian savoir faire", as Mr Farinetti describes it.

"And on the savoir faire there is no customs to pass, there are no taxes - we can export that gratis."

© The Financial Times Limited 2014. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation

ΣΧΟΛΙΑ ΧΡΗΣΤΩΝ

blog comments powered by Disqus
v