Eataly is a food distribution chain offering the best of craft products at reasonable prices, through the establishment of a direct relationship between the producer and the distributor. The objective of Eataly is twofold: offering products of high quality at affordable prices and disseminate a culture of food attentive to the issue of sustainability. Eataly organizes cooking classes and training sessions for young and adults aimed at promoting a culture of sustainable food consumption and production. The overall initiative is promoted by Slow Food that within the project deals by mentioning the potential suppliers, which is selects based on the overall quality of the product, the method of production, the availability of raw material, the variety of the proposal and availability of certifications for saling. Since 2007, year of the inauguration of the headquarter in Torino, the Eataly stores are opening all over Italy as well as in Japan and the United Stat
Strategic intelligence and citizens’ participation
SI Type
Service / Process - The main innovation resides in the development of a new service concept consisting in the provision of traditional and local food productions to the final constumers at reasonable price through the development of a strong network of accreditated providers (by the consulting of the Slow Food Association)
Organisational / Business model - The overall business model of Eataly is based on the concept of sustainability and responsabiliy, from the provision of raw materials to the distribution to the final clients
Social (incl. behavioural) - The business of Eataly includes activities aimed at widespread a culture of food of high quality and sustainability within citizens
SI Objectives
Putting the food products of high quality available to all at affordable prices
Communicating the faces, the production methods and the history of the people and companies who do 'high food' making up the best of Italian food and wine
Disseminating a culture of food which is attentive to the sustainability issues
SI Origin
Eataly is a private corporation, founded in 2007 by Oscar Farinetti who was the owner of the electronic chain Unieuro. The founder, passionate about food and wine and member of the Slow Food Association, after a careful selection of producers (who are now about 20) has developed a distribution network, which is still being expanded. Using the valuable advice of Slow Food, Eataly now has stores of large size that offer products of the selected companies, presenting a differentiated supply from that of the large-scale distribution. Since its inception Eataly has proposed the best of craft products at reasonable prices by creating a direct relationship between producer and distributor, and inspired by words like sustainability, responsibility and sharing. Currently active sales outlets are concentrated in the north west of Italy, but the project is expected to expand further in other areas of the country and abroad.
SI Factors of success
Economic - The idea of Eataly was born by its founder, Oscar Farinetti, who had an grat availability of resources due to the sale of its electronic chain Unieuro in 2003
Social - The business idea of Eataly stems from the fact that people today are particularly attentive to issues related to food quality and sustainability of production processes (eg. Km0), also thanks to the work and commitment of Slow Food, an association which is active since 1896 against the consumption of fast and not healthy foods.
Ethical - The founder of Eataly was a supporter of Slow Food Association, whose aim is that to promote a culture based on the pleasure connected to food, learning to enjoy the diversity of recipes and flavors, recognizing the variety of the places of production and respecting the rhythms of the seasons
Sources
Primary - The web site of Eataly report information on the initiative which were useful to do the mapping
Direct contact with the management will be necessary in order to analyze in deep the initiative
Secondary - Many web site fucusing in environment and food report information and description of Eataly which are usefull to understand the development process of the SI.
