Post by European School of Economics

ESE Florence would like to thank Garzelli Giorgio, General Director at Sammontana S.p.A. for a very interesting guest lecture last Friday. The International General Director started his lecture with the history of the company, which turned out to be a story of tradition, quality and experience, but also of innovation, modernity and the desire to grow and take on new challenges such as their current expansion abroad. It also tells of business courage, heavy investments in innovation and manufacturing technology and a knack for knowing customer's tastes, both on the domestic as well as international market.    Sammontana S.p.A. is the largest Italian gelato company in Italy and still family-owned, turning down offers from big multinationals like Unilever. Garzelli: "I am very proud to work for a family-owned company. In order to become successful, I strongly believe that you need an entrepreneur with a vision." Giorgio Garzelli has a long professional experience in the food production industry. As International General Director, he is currently leading Sammontana's international expansion and export strategies. Garzelli: "Going international is always a compromise between risks and opportunities. You need to know cross countries' markets and assortments very well in order to define your communication activities. You can 'test' your product in the countries with low entry costs, and then expand your successful mix of strategies to other target markets." He illustrated these principles to our students with some very interesting business examples from Sammontana's current and future business development strategies. Thanks again Giorgio Garzelli for this very interesting and inspiring guest lecture! Photo credits: Marisa Cheng #guestlecture #casestudy #guestspeaker #gelatobusiness #foodproduction #expansion #internationalexpansion #businessdevelopment #familyownedbusiness #entrepreneurwithavision #vision #export #exportstrategy #ESEFlorence