Spaghetti and Mandolino 2017: the emotion continues!

Antagonists of the selection standards and researchers of true excellence: Spaghetti & Mandolino is this, and it has been since the beginning. When it was born, about two years ago, it was just a beautiful idea that wanted to promote the culture of Italian food and wine through small great interpreters of beauty at the table, which then materialized into a mix of technology and computer knowledge of a group of young “nerds” from Verona passionate about food, supported by me, a selector who has been promoting Italian excellence around the world for years. 

And it all started from a chat at the table over a good glass of wine and a river of ideas. On one side Fabio De Vecchi, owner of Gruppo Volta, one of the most interesting Venetian realities in computer production specialized in e-commerce, on the other side me, Bernardo Pasquali, who for over ten years has been scouting Italian excellences to promote on tables around the world. From that meeting, a new idea of promoting typical products was born, a storytelling applied to the products of the land and the creativity of man, a hymn to the pleasantness and rarity of raw materials, as well as to the courage and passion of farmers and artisans of taste. With patience and determination, we ventured into the world of e-commerce, which already featured established giants, and we went through a startup phase that allowed us to concretely test the value of the project and the trust of customers. 

Last year, Spaghetti & Mandolino managed to establish itself in the landscape of Italian food e-commerce, managing to gain attention from press and operators. A very convincing end of 2015 with increasingly encouraging signs. But Spaghetti & Mandolino did not stand still: thanks to the experience I have gathered in this sector and Fabio's strong entrepreneurial skills, the portal began to establish important collaborative relationships with realities like AIS Veneto (Italian Sommelier Association) for the end-of-year charitable initiative of all members. Furthermore, it began to strengthen the trust relationship with productive realities and establish long-term contracts and agreements. This led the initial experience toward a 2016 of trust and great expectations. 

After a settling period due to the transition from startup to business, Spaghetti & Mandolino presents itself from September of this year with a strengthened staff, young, enthusiastic, and determined. A group of boys and girls who assert their passion for Italian food through the portal. Subsequently, the technological-informatic framework that is the basis of the project was strengthened, and a process of redefining suppliers and capitalizing products was initiated. 

From September to December 2016, more than 500 new products from all over Italy have been added. Spaghetti & Mandolino has quintupled its revenues in these three months: an extraordinary success that makes the portal one of the most clicked in Italy, getting closer to major competitors with strong branding. 

We have one of the most relevant selections of typical and refined Italian cheeses on the web and a selection of salumi that is continually growing with the inclusion of other important names already in the first days of 2017. Purchases from abroad are increasing, and especially, customer satisfaction is rising, with clients returning with increasing frequency. 

The data is very convincing, and 2017 will be a year of 360-degree strengthening. A project to enhance Italian excellences with increasing attention to farmers, to young agricultural entrepreneurs who want to narrate their relationship with the land of origin through the recovery of rarities and unique specialties in the world. 

Spaghetti & Mandolino has already started a path of attention towards realities that are supporting people through the products of the land. Ethical and solidarity projects towards social cooperatives that help young people in difficulty, who fight against injustice, who save human lives from degradation. This is a strong message that we will increasingly make our own. 

We will place increasingly marked attention on organic production and the naturalness of products, on the cleanliness and respect of the land and people's work. 

For all this, we want to thank each one of you, and there are many: our portal sees an average of daily visits from 600 to over 1000 users from all parts of Italy and beyond. Thanks also to our loyal friends who live in other European countries, who, also thanks to us, tell us about the emotions felt in reliving their land at the table. 

To thank you for your trust and attention towards the Spaghetti & Mandolino project, we have decided to reserve for the last 10 purchasers of 2016 and the first 10 purchasers of next year a beautiful gift that you will find in your package. A simple gesture of recognition and friendship to say thank you but, above all, to continue this long journey with you through the true Italy, made of women and men who have embraced the land making it a way of life. 

The emotion continues…

Bernardo Pasquali
 

S&M