Profile

Co-founder of GS and Esselunga, he also served as CEO of the Manifattura Caprotti. He married Lu Austoni, with whom he had two daughters, Benedetta and Elisabetta.

Read 17 articles about Guido Caprotti

History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Guido Caprotti, the less famous brother

Guido Caprotti was one of the pioneers of large-scale distribution in Italy, a partner from the beginning of 'Supermarkets italiani' (later Esselunga), he later founded with Marco Brunelli 'La Romana Supermarkets' (later GS). Later he and his brothers bought the majority of Esselunga from the Americans. Despite this role, his name has remained at the margins of the public narrative. Unjustly so. Because to his and Brunelli's intuition we owe an important part of the start of modern distribution in Italy. It is no coincidence that back in 1959, La Stampa described him as 'a giant of entrepreneurship'.

Collaborations / Projects Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families People, Environment & Culture Press & Events

Giuseppe Caprotti: ‘From trolleys to history, the luck of living more lives’

What will we read about in your new book? ‘I tell another side of the family through two extraordinary explorers: my eponymous ancestor Giuseppe Caprotti, who lived thirty years in Yemen, and my great uncle Gianni Albertini, a skier and mountaineer who explored the North Pole’.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The character of Grandpa Peppino

Caprotti's men were sanguine, quarrelsome characters, easily ignited, competitive and sometimes ruthless. But they could also be cheerful, enthusiastic, vital, and feel a deep affection for the family, although this same powerful vitalism and strong competitiveness often led to misunderstandings and jealousies that were difficult if not impossible to reconcile. Grandpa Peppino's story is not very different from the general picture.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Bursinel, the castle on Caprotti’s lake

The castle of Bursinel, in the canton of Vaud, was bought after the war by grandfather Peppino, and together with Villa Nadina, in Forte dei Marmi, it is one of the places of the heart. At Bursinel we all get together, uncles cousins brothers grandmothers and great-grandmothers, and we children play for hours on the castle's large lawn. My father gave it to my sister who is selling it, much to my regret.

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

The Esselunga brand: its beginnings and development up to 2003

In 1995, we are also able to achieve profitability for all our products and categories with industrial accounting: this allows us to better target contracts, through buyers and sales in supermarkets, with the help of the marketing department. The three functions - purchasing, marketing and sales - are fundamental to the implementation and profitability of the company's brand, whose operating result, from the 1990s to the early 2000s, is multiplied by 2.5

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

Guido Caprotti, the less famous brother

Guido Caprotti was one of the pioneers of large-scale distribution in Italy, a partner from the beginning of 'Supermarkets italiani' (later Esselunga), he later founded with Marco Brunelli 'La Romana Supermarkets' (later GS). Later he and his brothers bought the majority of Esselunga from the Americans. Despite this role, his name has remained at the margins of the public narrative. Unjustly so. Because to his and Brunelli's intuition we owe an important part of the start of modern distribution in Italy. It is no coincidence that back in 1959, La Stampa described him as 'a giant of entrepreneurship'.

Collaborations / Projects Food and Retail History History of Esselunga History of the Caprotti and Venosta families People, Environment & Culture Press & Events

Giuseppe Caprotti: ‘From trolleys to history, the luck of living more lives’

What will we read about in your new book? ‘I tell another side of the family through two extraordinary explorers: my eponymous ancestor Giuseppe Caprotti, who lived thirty years in Yemen, and my great uncle Gianni Albertini, a skier and mountaineer who explored the North Pole’.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The character of Grandpa Peppino

Caprotti's men were sanguine, quarrelsome characters, easily ignited, competitive and sometimes ruthless. But they could also be cheerful, enthusiastic, vital, and feel a deep affection for the family, although this same powerful vitalism and strong competitiveness often led to misunderstandings and jealousies that were difficult if not impossible to reconcile. Grandpa Peppino's story is not very different from the general picture.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

Bursinel, the castle on Caprotti’s lake

The castle of Bursinel, in the canton of Vaud, was bought after the war by grandfather Peppino, and together with Villa Nadina, in Forte dei Marmi, it is one of the places of the heart. At Bursinel we all get together, uncles cousins brothers grandmothers and great-grandmothers, and we children play for hours on the castle's large lawn. My father gave it to my sister who is selling it, much to my regret.

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

The Esselunga brand: its beginnings and development up to 2003

In 1995, we are also able to achieve profitability for all our products and categories with industrial accounting: this allows us to better target contracts, through buyers and sales in supermarkets, with the help of the marketing department. The three functions - purchasing, marketing and sales - are fundamental to the implementation and profitability of the company's brand, whose operating result, from the 1990s to the early 2000s, is multiplied by 2.5

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)