63 / 76
FEB. MAR. 2018
III
customers the experience gained
in almost half a century of activity
By Chiara Bandini
Creating a single hub capable of solving
the problems of entire supply chain
purchasing. A single structure designed
to meet the needs of commercial
catering operators (restaurants,
pizzerias, hotels, tourist villages, pubs,
breweries, etc.) and collective catering
(canteens, schools, hospitals). With this
goal, back in 1972, Giuseppe Riccio
founded the Meridionale Catering
Service and, from the start became
the preferred and obvious partner of
nascent modern Italian catering. A
precursor, in fact, of the concept of
“foodservice”.
Since then almost half a century
has passed, during which time
the company has been able - and
knowingly - to capitalise on a broad
and solid experience, laying the
foundations to face the challenges
imposed by a constantly evolving
market.
At the head of the company today
there is the second generation of
the Riccio family, represented by
the founder’s sons: Corrado, who is
responsible for the commercial side,
and Roberto, who has assumed the
position of director. And who here
informs us of the direction in which
the company is moving.
Who are your main customers
currently?
We mainly focus on commercial
catering in the Naples area, with
some incursions into the Avellino and
Caserta areas. In particular, we are
turning more and more to the channel
of young-target establishments -
breweries, sandwich shops, pubs and
wine shops - which in recent years
have been at the centre of success in
the Naples area. Instead, collective
catering has taken on a rather marginal
role: thanks to the industrial crisis that
has hit Campania, many companies
have ceased their activity and many
others have chosen to outsource their
canteen services. Hence the natural
contraction of the impact of this area
on our activity.
How do you manage to win and
retain customers’ trust?
We aim to support our customers
competently through a punctual and
constant consulting activity. We are
also careful to select products that
guarantee value for money and capable
of satisfying various needs. But above
all we provide a delivery service within
24 hours from the order, directly to
customer facilities. A fast, punctual and
efficient service.
How is the range structured?
We have the dry range section - from
pasta to bakery and breakfast products,
from food oils to canned food - to the
fresh section, which includes products
for breakfast, cold cuts, cheeses and
meats. Meat, however, is a decreasing
part of their turnover compared to
the past, where it once generated 60%
and represented the company’s core
business. Today, on the other hand,
due to the general change in eating
habits that increasingly accept the
concept of health and well-being, they
now contribute only 25-30% to our
turnover. On the other hand, it must
be said that thanks to this different
approach to food, frozen food has
grown considerably, in all its forms. In
particular vegetables, fish, processed
chicken and especially potatoes. In fact,
the catering channel aimed at young
people has brought this ingredient into
vogue, which in Italy was consumed
much less than in the rest of Europe.
Your product range is not strictly
limited to the food sector ...
It’s like this. In order to ensure our
customers the most complete service
possible, we have expanded our range
by also introducing kitchen cleaning
support products.
Overall how is Meridionale
Catering Service organised? The
company structure, the warehouse
and the headquarters, the staff ...
At our headquarters there are offices
and a warehouse, used for the storage
of fresh, dried and frozen products. In
the case of the latter, we also use an
external structure. The staff consists of
a total of 15 employees, in addition to
the truck drivers who work exclusively
for us and who work alongside the staff
in charge of transport.
Who are your suppliers?
We collaborate, mainly exclusively, with
companies belonging to Cooperativa
Italiana Catering. And we choose
products of excellence in each of the
commodity sectors addressed: to give
just a few examples, we range from
Fiorucci and King for cold cuts, to