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

The Caprotti family and the supermarkets: Guido Caprotti with Marco Brunelli and two friends, 1950s

Marco Brunelli, a close friend of Guido Caprotti’s since high school, and a member of one of Milan’s most prominent families, was the first to come into contact with the American IBEC and its plan to open a series of supermarkets in Italy, and he also brought Guido and Bernardo into the negotiations. This dispels, at least in part, the story always told in the family that, thanks to a fortunate conversation overheard at the Grand Hotel in St. Moritz, the Caprotti family had entered as protagonists in the negotiations together with Brunelli. The latter later became the first president of Supermarkets Italiani, later Esselunga.

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

The Caprotti family and supermarkets: the importance of Guido (1929 – 2012)

Guido, brother of Bernardo and Claudio Caprotti, with the help of his friend Marco Brunelli managed to get the Caprotti family, with other shareholders, to enter into a partnership with Nelson Rockefeller’s Ibec to create a chain of supermarkets in Italy. It was also with Brunelli that, a few years later, he became co-founder of GS (Generale Supermercati)

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family and friends: Guido Vergani, journalist, friend of Claudio Caprotti and Giorgina, ca. 1990s.

On a trip to Tehran to meet the Shah of Persia [Rockefeller] stops off in Milan and, to seal the alliance with the Italian partners, goes with his wife Mary to visit them. A dinner at The Caprotti family’s was also on the agenda, but the night before Guido Vergani, who was to become a famous journalist but at the time was not yet twenty and was a friend of Claudio Caprotti’s, went to visit him, and in the excitement of the moment he opened the refrigerator and without anyone noticing he ate all the rolls that his grandmother Marianne had cooked for the occasion. The dinner is a success even without the rolls, but that episode will still anger Marianne many years later.

Advertising Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families In the spotlight 2 Marketing News ad Analysis

The birth of marketing at Esselunga and two Armando Testa advertising campaigns

In 1994, under my impetus, the Esselunga marketing department took shape and I became its first director. Marketing was structured to manage the following areas: promotions – including the whole Fidaty world – the call centre, press office, market research, supermarket space, advertising