Apr. 10 – A recently signed partnership between Eataly and Auchan has allowed the French company to stock its 50 hypermarkets in Italy with a selection of Eataly products. Soon, Auchan will offer the same selection in its hypermarkets abroad. This is what was agreed upon yesterday during a conference held at Eataly’s Rome headquarters. “It is widely acknowledged that Italy’s food is among the high quality offers in the world, also holding a world record for biodiversity – said Eataly owner, Oscar Farinetti – But there are two strange phenomena: Italians know very little about Italian products (less than 35% of Italians know the difference between common wheat and durum wheat). And this is because we don’t know how to narrate. On top of this, we rarely go abroad to sell our products.” Christian Iperti, general manager Auchan Italy, thinks transitioning to international sales of Italian food products must first include “staff training, as they are the ones – he explained – that should underscore the quality of Italian products in our supermarkets abroad.” This is why the theme of the conference was “Distribution as a narrative tool for Made in Italy and Italians abroad.” “We believe in this project because we believe in the quality and uniqueness of Italian products,” continued the general manager of Auchan Italy, stressing that his company annually exports about 750 local products in 13 countries. An implicit approval of the agreement also came from Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food Italy: “In 28 years of experience, Slow Food has met and worked with the producers from many different Italian realities; they each contributed to our understanding of what Made in Italy is and how it can be narrated without betraying its essence.”
