Interview with Distribution The exclusive excellencies of Abbi Group

THERE'S ROBERTO COMOLLI, CEO AT CUORE DELL’ISOLA , TO TALK WITH PL MAGAZINE.

The exclusive excellencies of Abbi Group

Although linked to two entities, the company, directed by Giangiacomo Ibba, preserves its independence both in its formats and in its own brands.

“Today, dressing up your products is no longer enough, you have to know how to design them. I believe there’s still room for discoveries and that lots of industrial brands can be replaced.”

Abbi group now has 320 points of sale and six brands, including wholesalers and local stores, for a total of over 150,000 square meters of commercial area and 1,200 workers, operating in Sardinia, Lazio and Abruzzo. From the financial point of view, to mention only a few figures, the 2021 balance sheet outlined an incredible growth - a net income of up to 511.9 million euros , compared to the 382 million euros of the previous year. In addition, Abbi, historically partnering with Consorzio Crai and, since the 2021 spring, also with Despar Italia, develops its own formats like the new Tuttigiorni, and exclusive PLs. There’s Roberto Comolli, CEO at Cuore dell’isola to talk about it with us.

What are the Abbi Group lines today? There are two lines: ‘Cuore dell’Isola’ and ‘La rosa dei gusti’. The first one is an ethical brand with Sardinian ingredients, when available, but it’s not limited only to typical, or regional supplies. In fact, it includes, to name a few, pasta orecchiette and trofie, and of course we also

have the original orecchiette from Oristano. In other words, we want to value our Island, but also our consumers, by looking for the right balance that is always difficult to achieve, given how rich our Italian food is.

What about the story of the two brands? ‘Cuore’ was founded 5-6 years ago and it has been managed by our offices in Milan for almost one year and a half now. I’d like to add that, by the end of the year, we’ll complete an interesting rebranding project. ‘La rosa dei gusti’ is more recent, since it started in 2020 and so it’s not even two years old. It is a true brand, with a designing process that took its inspiration from the fashion world, where stylists invent and create and third parties produce, trying to find the best value for money.

Any fun facts? Within its supply, ‘La rosa dei gusti’ offers, on special occasions, haute-cuisine recipes that are not always affordable, such as Kobe ravioli, or grab and fresh caviar, as well as desserts for holiday seasons, such as panettone, made with our new exclusive recipe, or some products of our own making - i.e. mayonnaise made with olive oil with no additives, fresh pesto sauce with Vessalico (Imperia) garlic, with no preservatives or other substances and, thus, 100% natural. And I could go on with the list, but, actually, I prefer to say that dressing up your products is no longer enough, today products must be designed.

What are the current figures of the two brands? It’s about 170 ‘Cuore dell’Isola’ references, with a 70% growth rate. ‘La rosa dei gusti’ boasts, instead, 300 references, with a 150% growth rate.

Product innovation: what’s cooking? Actually, rather than cooking, we should say baking. In other words, ‘Cuore’ doesn’t have a dessert segment yet, because in Sardinia, we don’t cultivate soft wheat, but rather buy it. However, now, together with Coldiretti, we found an area for this crop. So, next year, we’ll have desserts too. And if we talk about best sellers, our flagships are Guttiau bread, wines, and fresh bread.

THE KEY FIGURES OF ABBI GROUP

2021 net consolidated turnover 511.936.682 mln/€ (+34%)

Total points of sale 320

Regions represented 3

Sardinia, Lazio, Abruzzo

Source: Company data

Workers 1.200

Total brands 6

(Crai, Centro Cash, Despar, Ibba mangimi, Leder Price, Tuttigiorni)

Are you planning to export ‘Cuore dell’Isola’ also to the rest of the Crai world? Well, ‘Cuore’ is first of all an ethical brand and, for this reason, it favors local production, but with no long distance transport involved which would be inconsistent with our sustainability approach.

What is the role of the new ‘Tuttigiorni’ format in the development of ‘Cuore dell’Isola’ line? ‘Tuttigiorni’, launched last spring and now present in Cagliari and Sassari, in Sardinia, with great development plans, is a Edlp format, whose strategy is based on our brand and which will therefore boost our supply for sure. In other words, I believe in two things, both fully confirmed: distribution can work well, very well, with no ‘by that date’ flyers and industrial brands - ‘Tuttigiorni’ proves it. The two shops of Cagliari and Sassari performed better than the rest of the group and, despite the small numbers of PLs available, we recorded 32% of volume share in Cagliari and 40% in Sassari.

Don’t you think the top-range PL segment, in particular in food specialties, is becoming too crowded? I don’t think so. Every distributor has its own role and positioning on the market, and so there are several differences, also linked to the area they operate in. Furthermore, industrial products are still a lot and there’s room for PLs of every range, from first-price to premium segments. For this reason, our 41 suppliers of ‘Cuore dell’Isola’ are likely to increase.

Talking of Abbi Group, how much do the Crai brand or brands count? They are important and will continue to be, because the objective is to invest in PLs. And this is true also for Despar brands, since Abbi, after the acquisition of 16 Gieffe points of sale (in March 2021) has become also Despar Sardegna, then converting 33 pos from Simply to Despar.l

Luca Salomone Professional Journalist specialized in Consumer Goods, Distribution, Shopping Centres and Finance.