Retail brand intenational Penny Market: a solidarity chain for suppliers

Penny Market:

a solidarity chain for suppliers

The retailer’s response to the crisis, caused by Covid-19 pandemic, helped the economic recovery of those small local producers that made history in the Italian agri-food specialties.

Created in 2020, ‘Abbracciamo l’impresa italiana’ (‘Let’s embrace the Italian companies’) campaign was the concrete response given by Penny Market Italia, Group Rewe food discount, to react to the difficult situation caused by Covid-19 pandemic and the related economic consequences in Italy. The main goal was to help the restart of the Italian agri-food industry, which includes the main Pls of the brand, such as Natura è, Vicino, Cuor di Terra, My BIO, Free, etc. The first concrete result immediately recorded by the initiative was the widening of its offer of Italian local products, and, also, the promotion of food and wine products that before ‘Penny’s embrace’ were often not sold in the mass consumption segment. Thanks to this initiative, hundreds of producers were able to restart, with the support of the retailer, especially because of the privileged access to about 400 stores all over Italy. Local and regional high quality products that will be added to the Made in Italy specialties that already account for 70% of national stores’ assortment. We interviewed Paola Monica Dimaggio, PL Manager & Sustainability Coordinator, and Marcello Caldarella, Communication Manager to talk about these topics.

‘ABBRACCIAMO L’IMPRESA ITALIANA’ 2.0 IS ON ITS WAY

Launched in 2020, with the 2.0 version of its ‘Abbracciamo l’impresa Italiana’ campaign, Penny Market gave an even bigger embrace to socially-committed volunteer associations, starting with its historical partners. With Banco Alimentare Onlus, it will be possible to increase and promote new initiatives to fight food waste on the national territory; with Mission Bambini, Penny will help young people in need between 18 and 25 years of age by offering them training and courses to introduce them to the world of work; with Fondazione Progetto Arca, the brand is already working in the Milanese area, together with the volunteers of the association, to guarantee food to families in need.

How many people joined the initiative? 256 small and medium local entrepreneurs asked to join the initiative, 196 were the entrepreneurs contacted and more than 50 companies now have reached our 400 stores. Among these products of absolute excellence, which are also easy to recognise from the campaign logo, there are for example Salumificio Da Pian Grilled Prosciutto; Cavallaro Sicilian Honey; Caseificio Russo Seasoned Pecorino; Cooperativa Acli-Racale New Potatoes; Pastificio Strampelli of Amatrice Spaghetti, Bucatini, Mezze maniche; Il Grillo of Santa Tresa Sparkling Wine. Real and concrete help that embraces traditions, values and people of a country, Italy, that is eager to restart.

What are the tangible advantages? Purchases allowed small suppliers to have a direct access to buyers, Logistics encouraged agreements with small local transport companies that had been active in other sectors before and that had to stop their activities due to the health emergency. Logistics also granted support to local transport companies through Penny Cargo logistics synergy system. Furthermore, our Quality Function implemented simplified and dedicated supplier verification systems, as well as the optimization and acceleration of quality verification processes; our Legal and Public Affairs Office contacted SME category associations and institutions to ensure a shared and broader support network.

Also from the communication point of view? Supporting communication is just one of the actions we put in place. There are so many successful stories to tell and Penny wanted to help entrepreneurs through a studied communication plan based on direct experiences and story-telling of those who have already experienced the crisis, first, and then the recovery, also thanks to the support of ‘Abbracciamo l’impresa italiana’ campaign.

How much is private label an important driver for your offer? Being a discount chain, private labels have a key role, because in some categories they account for about 85% of our offer and, for this reason, are a strong factor to build customer loyalty. To better suit our consumer’s needs, we are considering further expansions in new categories. For instance, we are launching a line of barbecue products in August, which will include about thirty references of ‘barbecue’ products: fresh meat, seasoning, sauces, fruits and vegetables, but also non-food, such as aprons, branded t-shirts, and barbecue tools. That’s the reason why the line will be called ‘Voglia di griglia’ (‘Craving for barbeque’). We will also continue with the relaunch of our historical brands and we will develop new ones in line with the current trends.

Maria Teresa Manuelli