Talking with Antonio Tombolini
One of the first things I discovered when I went on the Internet in 1995 was the Rec.Foods.Cooking newsgroup -- all sorts of people gathered around a huge virtual kitchen table, talking about food! Fascinating, and when I returned to Italy after turning in the manuscript of my Artusi translation I tried to log in from here too, but the server connection was poor and only about half the messages came through. There was, however, an Italian equivalent, It.Hobby.Cucina. Another huge virtual table with lots of people jabbering away. One of the major differences was that the Italians were a bit more centered on food, with discussions on authenticity and such, and also discussed wine; in one thread quality and price came up, and I posted something to the effect that "people who produce quality wines can charge high prices," citing Angelo Gaja as an example (for those not in the wine world, he is one of Italy's top winemakers, and was voted Winemaker of the Year by Decanter magazine a few years ago).
"If you buy a Gaja wine you'll be getting a name," shot back Antonio Tombolini, adding that its quality was not a foregone conclusion. He was of course right, and I began reading his posts with more interest, quickly discovering that his sticking points were quality and authenticity. Authentic, unadulterated recipes, and unadulterated, quality ingredients. Then, one day, he asked the group: "What would you think of an online food store specializing in traditionally made, top quality local and regional specialties?"
The response was generally positive, and shortly thereafter he quit his job in upper level management (among other things, he has run a company that makes telephone antennas) to launch Esperya, Italy's first online delicatessen. "I wanted something that would combine my interests and my work," he said, when I met him at Torino's Salone del Gusto this October, "and that meant food. I was thinking of opening a restaurant, or perhaps a store. Then the Internet came along, offering incredible opportunities for establishing relationships with others." The site's homepage is quite standard, listing specials of the day and categories of products that one can select from; the category listings then lead to product descriptions with photos and the option to add the item in question to the shopping cart (European orders are shipped express from Italy and North American orders from their warehouse in NY).
However, in many ways the site revolves around the discussion forums (there's one for each of the sites' four languages -- English, Italian, German and French). "We consciously avoided regulating them," says Antonio, "and as a result they've become property, as it were, of our clients and suppliers." In other words, the site functions as a sort of town market, where consumers can look for products, ask for them if they don't see them (at which point Esperya seeks them out and adds them to the catalog), and talk with the producers too. It's a return to the shopkeepers of yore, who got to know their clients, giving them personal attention, providing them with exactly what they wanted, and also suggesting other things that they might like. This is, I think, what Internet shopping should become; it can work with the top quality and niche products of the sort Antonio and his partners seek out because the potential customer base is sufficient to provide the necessary contacts and sales.
"But what does Esperya mean?" you wonder. Italian Food Experience, replies Antonio, who says he doesn't think of the site as a gourmet shop, because the pleasure experienced by the gourmet ends with the food, while he considers food to be a departure point from which to embark on a voyage of discovery and understanding. "If there is one salient characteristic of Italian cuisine and food," he says, "it's rich diversity and the peaceful coexistence of diverse traditions." This is, if one comes right down to it, the salient characteristic of Italian Peninsular culture too.
The future looks good, and Antonio plans to expand the concept to cover other areas as well, beginning with sites dedicated to Spain and France. There's also an Esperya travel site in the works, and a wine site that will carry international-style as well as traditional wines (Esperya's wine catalog has traditional-style wines made with traditional grapes). There's already an Esperya USA site that ships products direct from NY, and they're working on wine for the US -- Antonio has decided that he'd rather import and distribute directly rather than work with an importer, and setting this sort of thing up takes time.
With Esperya Antonio has established himself as an Italian merchant on the Net, and his venture does look promising.
A Presto,
Kyle
Phillips
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