History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Presentations

Giuseppe Caprotti at OSA360, in front of 2000 entrepreneurs, in Milan on 8 November 2024

At OSA 360, the biggest event for entrepreneurs in Milan, I had the pleasure of telling an audience of more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, producers and retailers about the origins of Esselunga and all the innovations I introduced in the company up to 2004, inspired by the themes of my book ‘Le Ossa dei Caprotti’. It was exciting to share this vision, which continues to evolve through the initiatives of the Guido Venosta Foundation

Collaborations / Projects Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Marketing News ad Analysis Presentations

Ideas on the internationalisation of Italian large-scale retail trade from the book “Le Ossa dei Caprotti” at the Stati Generali dell’Export, Milan 11 October 2024

From the missed national champion of the 1960s, with GS – Esselunga, to the multi-regional companies of today. The opportunities missed by Italian large-scale retailers in e-commerce but also in the acquisitions that foreign retailers are making instead

Food and Retail History History of Esselunga Marketing News ad Analysis

Made in Italy: the ‘old’ marketing of manufacturers and large retailers

The trend in our country in 2023 was: – 4.5% in volume for ‘Italian products’ (GS1 data, page 15 ). There was a : ‘sharp drop in consumption for products that recall the Italian character, especially those with the claim produced in Italy’. And the first to produce Italian sounding (fake) products are Italians

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History Presentations Press & Events Reviews

Giuseppe Caprotti on Le Ossa dei Caprotti: ‘A book that allowed me to make peace with the past and with my father’. On 26 October, at Assolombarda Monza

I am grateful to jury president Gianna Parri for having been included among the finalists. Beyond the third place achieved, the support and appreciation of the jurors and readers in the room was comforting

Geopolitics and History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family and Coop: the ‘war’ on several fronts

(…) Let’s start thinking of a dossier that shows how, from both the members’ and the social point of view, cooperatives are enterprises like any other. It follows that the favourable conditions from which they benefit are state aid. We set up an internal working group and (…) gather all the necessary documentation to support our conviction. The dossier will then be taken to Brussels by Federdistribuzione and will change, at least in part, the taxation of cooperatives. In their defence even Massimo D’Alema is moving …

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families Local History

The Caprotti family and relatives: the formidable Aunt Virginia, sister of great-great-grandfather Giuseppe

Aunt Virginia was the family peacemaker at a time of great feuds: the good work of keeping at bay two men who were able to tear each other apart at work whether they were competitors or partners had to be continued successfully by spouses and nephews, as the two, in their older years, used to spend Christmas together and with relatives

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

From I to We: Human Resources

With the enormous development of the non-food part and the emergence of marketing, we create hundreds of jobs, to which more will be added in food purchasing and quality control. My rule is to move from 'I' to 'we': and results pay off, because an internal survey in 2003 conducted by CIRM shows that in two years the proportion of those declaring themselves 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' has risen from 49 per cent to 72.1 per cent.

Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family and Coop: the sale of Esselunga, Aldo Soldi and ‘Sickle and Cart’

... This news is almost contemporaneous with a proposal of mine, in October 2004, to buy the majority share of Esselunga, a proposal that was rejected. At this point there was talk of four other offers, in particular one from the American giant Walmart; and Aldo Soldi, since 2004 president of ANCC - Coop, the National Association of Consumer Cooperatives, also expressed interest in buying it, because a move into foreign hands would have been a disaster for the Italian food economy. An unwise move, which will be among the reasons why Bernardo will publish his book Sickle and Cart in 2007.

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family and Coop: the ‘war’ on several fronts

(...) Let's start thinking of a dossier that shows how, from both the members' and the social point of view, cooperatives are enterprises like any other. It follows that the favourable conditions from which they benefit are state aid. We set up an internal working group and (...) gather all the necessary documentation to support our conviction. The dossier will then be taken to Brussels by Federdistribuzione and will change, at least in part, the taxation of cooperatives. Even Massimo D'Alema is moving in their defence but our victory, the fruits of which I will not be able to reap, is very important. (...)". (G. CAPROTTI, Le Ossa dei Caprotti. Una storia italiana, Milan 20243, pp. 149; 187 - 188; p. 269).