Caprotti family Easter egg hunt, 1964

For us, children with transalpine blood and habits, hunting for Easter eggs among the meadows and trees has always been a habit. With our mothers and cousins we would scatter around the countryside, well dressed and the girls in their hats; the customary photo would follow, like this one, full of the tenderness of memories, perfect for wishing everyone a peaceful Easter.

‘Supper Market of style’: Kean Etro’s men’s fashion show on the shelves of the Esselunga in Via Washington, 2001

In 2001, Kean Etro 'wandered around [in the Esselunga on Washington Street] presenting his collection of plant-dyed cotton sweaters among the very first organic product counters. 'They took us for fools. Then the organic line is still there' ". In 2014, Chanel also paraded its models among the shelves of a supermarket at the Grand Palais in Paris. Only the supermarket was fake.

‘ESSELUNGA AT HOME’: the first large-scale retail e-commerce in Italy

We saw at Delhaize in Belgium a system that allows customers to do their shopping either via the web or via fax and have it delivered to their home. Bernardo, although not convinced, gives his approval. ... we started with e- commerce in Monza in March 2001, using the warehouse of the supermarket in Via San Fruttuoso, which we adapted as a dark store

Chicago 1987, before superstores

Charles Fitzmorris, Esselunga's IT service provider, convinces my father to let me go to America to gain experience. He puts me in touch with the family of one of his clients, Dominick Di Matteo, who has a chain of supermarkets in Chicago. During my two-year stay, during which I worked my way up through the ranks internally, starting as a general worker, I learned the basics, and then in Milan I was able to put to good use what would become the great change, the quantum leap that would make Esselunga's fortune.

The Caprotti family and the Esselunga supermarkets: the Americans’ pasta factory, c. 1950s.

With regard to the supply of certain fresh products, the problem was the lack of adequately prepared and controlled goods. This is why Esselunga decided to start producing on its own as early as 1959, setting up a bakery, an ice-cream parlour that sold its products even in winter, a coffee roasting plant, a cold cuts warehouse, a poultry farm to supply fresh eggs, but above all a large pasta factory for ravioli, tortellini and gnocchi, the success of which even excited the Americans, who were able to sell one of their favourite products, pasta, to Italians at excellent quality and 50% savings.