The American chain of Wegmans supermarkets is looking for Sicilian products. Eight buyers meet Gustibus Alimentari and Valle del Dittaino as part of the Business Chain “Gustoso Sicilian Food Excellence”
Enna, April 20, 2018 – The US Wegmans supermarket chain focuses on Sicilian products and chose Gustoso Sicilian Food Excellence, the line, born last December, consisting of 14 agro-industrial companies which also include Valle del Dittaino and Gustibus Alimentare, in order to put 100% Sicilian products on the North American market. Yesterday, eight Wegmans buyers visited the two plants located in the Enna industrial area in the Dittaino Valley territory, to choose the labels to place at the 95 sales outlets of Wegmans in the United States, distributed as follows: 46 in New York, 17 in Pennsylvania, 9 in New Jersey, 10 in Virginia, 8 in Maryland and 5 in Massachusetts.
The 14 companies of the Gustoso Sicilian Food Excellence network are: Molini Riggi, Bruno Ribadi Brewery, Made Fruit, Marullo srl, Tonnino Winery, Gustibus Alimentari, Miscela D’Oro, Asaro, Pannitteri, Valle del Dittaino, Sicilian Olives, Sabadì, Distillery Caffo, Chioccilia and today the eight buyers will complete the tour visiting the companies of Catania and Messina, accompanied by the manager of the Gustoso Daniele Cipollina project. “With Gustoso,” Cipollina explains, “The companies involved share the same market approach idea, being able to take advantage of the economies of scale. The network then becomes a valid tool for joining and improving competitiveness, as well as enjoying solutions and facilitations to protect the foreign market: from specific consultancy related to exports, to commercial contracts, up to assistance for participation in international competitions and bids for tender. We are focused first on the Sicilian territory, but we desire to have much wider perspectives: the concept of territoriality of the Made in Italy can be expanded to all Italian regions, to approach in the near future the entire Italian regional market as a whole through the business network system”.
Wegman will put on the calendar a month dedicated to “Gustoso”, a marketing initiative to celebrate Sicilian cuisine and tradition with tastings, themed dinners and counters of gastronomy. Talking about it was the chef Cesare Casella, an exceptional witness for Gustoso Sicilian food: With its many activities (cooking, teaching, importing, consulting, studying, but above all spreading the true Italian cuisine in America), it plays a leading role in the gastronomy of America and represents a tradition made of raw materials and popular culture, simplicity and flavor. “I believe Sicily is a region that is still to be discovered for the quality of its products, because brands are not yet present in the USA where the territory and raw materials make the difference in the quality, and for this reason the ‘Gustoso’ project represents a huge possibility for Sicily.” “In these companies,” he continued, “even if industrial production processes are implemented, the concept of craftsmanship, the value of the land and tradition has remained.” The selected products will be included as counter products for October 2018, based on the arrival of the product, the training of staff and the development of a marketing plan.
“Today, facing mature, evolved markets like North America is very difficult, especially for a small and medium enterprise,” said the president of the Valle del Dittaino cooperative, Nino Grippaldi. “I believe networking is an essential opportunity for companies and entrepreneurs who strongly believe in the market in which they operate and at the same time see overseas a valid market for their manufacturing activity.” “We believed in ‘Gustoso'”, the Gustibus Alimentari CEO Francesco Pecorino, “because it represents that team effort that we like, a useful tool, that will allow to create economies of scale and to intercept, in a virtuous way, the resources”. The goals of “Gustoso Sicilian Food Excellence are ambitious: in 2018 the reference market will be the one in North America, while in 2019 “Gustoso” trade will be structured with the UK and also the possibility to enter the Chinese market will be studied. The volume of business for the first 24 months of activity, as per plan, is 25 million dollars. The cooperative Valle del Dittaino began 40 years ago in Assoro in the heart of Siciliy where the best Sicilian grain grows, and today has an average revenue of 9.5 million euro. It travels far, participates to important international expos, and enogastronomic events, and is present on the shelves in the United Kingdom, Germany and now will also reach the USA. The company with its Pandittaino brand, present throughout the Sicilian and national markets in over 900 stores, is currently a reference point and a positive business development model in one of the provinces with the lowest per capita income and the highest unemployment rate in Italy: Enna. La Pagnotta del Dittaino (Dittaino bread loaf) has obtained the PDO certification on June 18, 2009, together with numerous other international certification, becoming the pride and symbol of the Valle del Dittaino’s culture. Gustibus Alimentari, thanks to a team of experts in the field of food technology and nutrition, is specialized in the research and production of food products of its own brand: the production area is concentrated exclusively at the site of C.da Milocca, in the industrial area of Dittaino in Assoro (EN), featuring a brand new plant with avant-garde machinery that always ensure high standards of quality. The close link between the world of agricultural production and that of industrial processing led to the creation of products of the highest quality: the practical glass packaging keeps the flavors and nutritional characteristics unchanged, allowing consumers to taste the typical products of Mediterranean cuisine as if they were just harvested.
