‘Coop and Conad do not exist’. This was stated by Giuseppe Caprotti – son of Bernardo Caprotti, founder of Esselunga – former manager of the Italian distribution group. A statement made during the sixth edition of the Stati generali dell’esportazione at Palazzo Reale, organised by the Italian Export Forum and chaired by Lorenzo Zurino. Among the participants at the event were high-level managers including, in addition to Caprotti, Mario Gasbarrino, CEO of Decò Italia.

Caprotti’s statements, as also reported by Alimentando, concerned a discourse linked to the ‘dwarfism‘ suffered by Italian large-scale distribution in relation to the big foreign retailers. A large-scale distribution, that of the Belpaese, which has failed to develop a true internationalisation of its system.

In this respect, Caprotti explains, ‘some have ventured, such as Eurospin or Coop, which tried but had to turn back. However, these are sporadic and insignificant episodes’. Referring to the ‘dwarfism’ of Italian distribution compared to foreign multinationals, Caprotti recalls how two companies like Esselunga and GS could have formed a ‘national champion’ of distribution, on a par with the big foreign multinationals. But this did not happen.

“We had a multi-provincial, multi-regional company, it is still like that today. National champion companies I don’t know of,’ Caprotti points out. ‘There are brands, but brands do not constitute a company, they are simply consortia. Something that customers, consumers, do not know’.

Hence the provocation. “I throw it here: Coop does not exist, Conad does not exist.

There are no other private consortia [such as Vegè and Selex]. They are names of buying stations, which is quite a different thing from being a single company with a clear direction’.