If Dante had written the Divine Comedy after Covid, he would certainly have created two distinct ad-hoc circles for horeca operators: the “protesters” and the “innovators”. In the latter group we could certainly place Rossopomodoro as well as Panino Giusto, Vincenzo Ferrieri, Vice President of Cioccolatitaliani would certainly deserve a place in this category, as shown by the seven stores opened around the world, that, with the two openings of Pizzeria Italiana Espressa, brought to nine the total number of stores opened by the Gesa Group, owner of the two brands, between the first and second lockdown.
ITALIAN CHOCOLATES OF MOROCCO
In fact, in recent weeks, we watched the opening of the sixth store in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, the third in Tirana in Albania, the second in Pristina in Kosovo, and what has been defined as “the most exciting”, inaugurated some days ago in Rabat in Morocco.
The place was ready some months ago, but then Covid obviously delayed everything.
“The opening in Rabat – says Vincenzo – can definitely be considered as the most nice and the most challenging we have faced in these 11 years and we have been looking forward for it with impatience. I said nice because we are talking about a shop of about 1000 square meters on three levels, characterized by our chocolate factory and embellished with the bread production area, a must for the Moroccan market. Challenging because we have implemented new products and processes to embrace the local culture and, in addition, the opening was carried on entirely by remote, including staff training “.
Opening a restaurant abroad by training 45 people remotely is not something we see every day, and Vincenzo is particularly proud of it. “I still hardly believe it, really”.
FRENCH PASTRY? NO ITALIAN
“Even the performances, one week after the opening, are very encouraging. I don’t mind telling you that we awaited the opening with enthusiasm but also with a hint of concern”. Besides the obvious challenges that come along with a new opening abroad, there was even more than one misgiving related to local culture. “Food retail in Morocco has obviously always been characterized by French concepts, so the excellent market reaction to Cioccolatitaliani gives us double pleasure, as well as great hope for the future”.
In fact Rabat was the first, but won’t be the not the only opening in Maghrebi country, where the format can rely on a great partnership with the Marocain D’Ailleurs group. “The founders Mr. Abdulrazak Elboaishi and Odai Elboaishi can rely on a great track record in food service and we are very proud to have started with them a development plan in the country which includes Casablanca, ready for opening, and Marrakech”.
The covid, as explained by Vincenzo, did not cause delays in the handling of goods. “About the logistics, we only had to adapt raw materials, certifications and labeling to local uses and regulations”. One of these is, for example, the maximum shelf life of 12 months for incoming goods.
A RESILIENT FUTURE
In the pipeline, as well as several new openings in Italy, there is also the first opening in Malta, “which will see the light during the next year”.
Vincenzo recently hosted the annual Global Food Service Forum, during which he underlined that, to survive the covid, “Italian food service must create synergies, on the heels of what we have done with UBRI (Italian Food Service Brand Association, of which Cioccolatitaliani he is the founder together with Panino Giusto and many others, NDR).
Collaboration, but also resilience “Be able to adapt quickly to the change is another crucial point”.
Proof? The opening of a 900sqm store in Morocco, during a pandemic. This is called resilience.