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Home > FRANCE > Coup de projecteur
AURICCHIO, WHERE EXPORTS ARE A TRADITION
Rome - (IGN) - It is, without doubt, one of the best-known Italian food brands in the world: a unique and unmistakable cheese that has been appreciated for almost 130 years, ever since 1877 when Gennaro Auricchio founded the "Società Corrente Gennaro Auricchio" in San Giuseppe Vesuviano near Naples, to exploit his invention, a special type of rennet that gave an entirely particular taste to the classic Neapolitan cheese, Provolone. Today, Auricchio is a modern company, with a constantly growing turnover of over 100 million Euro, about 300 employees and an extensive sales network that allows it to maintain a presence in most of the world. Over a hundred years ago, the company's headquarters were transferred from the Vesuvian plain to Cremona, in the fertile Po valley, where the company's raw material, cow's milk, is more readily available. But the company has lost none of the spirit that has inspired the Auricchio family's entrepreneurial adventure from the very first day: combining tradition and industrial development. With the result that today it can claim uncontested qualitative leadership as one of the largest Italian dairy companies, processing over 500 tons of milk a day in five production plants.
Today, the company is headed by Gennaro Auricchio, the founder's grandson, and his three children Antonio, Giandomenico and Alberto. And to the latter we asked how a small craft business was transformed into a large industrial company, present in all international markets.
"I would prefer to define Auricchio as a medium-sized company, one of the very many medium-sized companies that have made Italy famous throughout the world. How did this transformation come about? I would say very carefully, step by step, through patient investment and with great passion. In other words, no sudden revolution, but a lot of daily work to grow the market while always improving product quality."
But you have been present in foreign markets for ages, ever since the company opened its doors.
"You might say that our first brokers were Italian immigrants at the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century. They often brought a little piece of Italy along with them in a wheel of Provolone. Then, once in America, they had there families send it to them. Opening a direct sales channel was the logical next step. So much so that, today, more than half of our exports are still to the United States, under either the Auricchio or the Locatelli brand, which has been present in the USA for decades and that we took over from Nestlé for the sheep's milk cheese sector."
What are some of the other markets you have a major interest in?
"We are present in many countries from France and Germany to Venezuela, Canada and Australia. We are very proud to have built such a widespread presence, even through, in certain situations, the effort required to enter a market may have been greater than the revenue we derive from it. But growth always begins with small numbers and steps and this is how we carried Italy's name and image everywhere."
What's in Auricchio future? What do you have in store for us?
"My greatest satisfaction will be to have left my children and grandchildren a larger, stronger company than the one my father left to me and my brothers. And this, through meeting the challenge of further increasing the quality of our products. And then there are the great markets of Asia, bringing this little piece of "Made in Italy" to Chinese and Indian tables."
Contact:
Gennaro Auricchio S.p.A.
Via Dante, 27
26100 Cremona
Italy
tel. +39-0372403311
www.auricchio.it
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