King Kullen: why the first US supermarket was at the forefront of global distribution

Italian, French and British retailers have drawn inspiration and lessons from their American counterparts. And the chain that opened its first supermarket 96 years ago is still family-owned: in June, King Kullen appointed its first female president, Tracey Cullen, the founder’s great-granddaughter

Quick Take — In Altroconsumo’s value-for-money ranking, Eurospin comes out on top among discount stores, whilst Dok, Coop and Famila dominate the supermarket and superstore categories for general shopping

The table to look at is the second one.

The comparison in the first table is not very meaningful, partly because the products sold by discount stores, supermarkets and superstores are not the same.

Conad comes top in terms of value for money if you look only at own-brand products (third table).

Source

Drafted on 2 September, updated on 3 September 2026

Quick Take — The ingredients of a genuine Genoese pesto and the top 10 brands according to Gambero Rosso

Today, the Consortium’s specification sets out certain key requirements: at least 25 per cent Genovese Basil PDO, extra virgin olive oil from Liguria or neighbouring regions, Italian garlic, Mediterranean pine nuts, sea salt and PDO cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano and certified pecorino cheeses. Any menthol-like note is also excluded, as it is considered out of keeping with the correct flavour profile.

The list also includes two products from Coop and Conad, produced by Bruzzone & Ferrari

How Walmart became an advertising powerhouse whilst remaining focused on its food, non-food and e-commerce businesses

It is a pity that no Italian company has had the scale, but above all the vision, to take on the world in the way these giants have done. In Italy, everyone thought: e-commerce must be self-sustaining. This was the case for Esselunga at home until it had no rivals, but Amazon and Walmart disprove this view. E-commerce is underpinned by other, more profitable sources of revenue