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OCT. NOV. 2018 IV AT PAGE 12 Qi Partners Continuous commitment in the search for quality The excellence of the range, all inspired by Mediterranean cuisine, is the winning ingredient of Mainardi Food, a wholesaler from Friuli Venezia Giulia specialising in the Eating Out sector. By Chiara Bandini The excellence in the quality of the range, the high level of service and the ability to enhance the human resources present within the company. Upon these three cornerstones is based the appreciation gained over many years of activity by Mainardi Food, a wholesaler specializing in the restaurant industry, recognized as a specialist in true Mediterranean cuisine. Under the guidance of its founder, Eduardo Mainardi, a native of Salerno of the Sarnese countryside of Nocerino by birth but Friuliano by adoption, the company - founded in the now distant 1984 - has experienced constant growth in recent years with a ‘sprint’ (from 2015 to the present day) that has registered annual growth rates of 15 to 20%. This is due above all to the ability to offer high quality Mediterranean cuisine products efficiently and to make them appreciated both outside and within the national borders, with effective range strategies implemented by all sales staff both in Italy and in Slovenia and Croatia. As Mainardi himself explains. How is your range structured? We range from real pizza made with products of excellence – the flours, San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella fior di latte of Agerola - to seafood specialities. And here we focus in particular on the traditions of Mediterranean cuisine, especially with the specialities from the Sicilian seas: red prawns, cuttlefish, squid, octopus, sea urchins. The mix also includes meat, for which we source from active suppliers in the U.S.A., Ireland, New Zealand, Italy and Europe. In this case, we also specialize in providing an ad hoc service to our customers, providing them with the cuts required for each specific need. Finally, we recently introduced a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, with morning supplies to the fruit and vegetable markets in our area. In short, we offer a very broad mix of products, made up thanks to the research of the potential and peculiarities of niche produce from small companies. Finally, we are concessionaires of Bindi Pasticceria for Friuli Venezia Giulia and Croatia, and we are exclusive distributors for the whole of our concerned territory for the top pastry shop in Italy “Sal De Riso” on the Amalfi Coast. Who are your main customers? We mainly cater to bars, trattorias, pizzerias and restaurants. But above all we focus on the hotel sector: in recent years we have in fact specialized in direct supply to high standing hotels, i.e. those classified as 4 or 5 stars. To the latter we guarantee everything necessary for the whole day, from breakfast to dinner. How do you manage to win their trust? Or rather, what are the strong points? We do not follow the best price route, but we rely, as mentioned, on the high quality of our products. And that strategy has paid off over the years. In addition, we focus on service: we always work alongside our customers, both personally and through our salesmen, all with great professionalism, as well as our suppliers’ chefs. How is the sales and delivery service organised? The sales network, all within the company, has 14 direct single salesmen. We have also recently created an automated order reception service based on a state-of-the-art IT platform in our sector. This service is especially appreciated by larger hotels. Delivery is guaranteed within 24 hours of the order thanks to a fleet of 10 owned vehicles, carried out by our employees. I would also like to add that Mainardi Food is the first regional company in the sector to carry out deliveries with the certain graph system (digital signature) by means of a tablet. And how is the company organized as a whole? The staff, the warehouse and the headquarters... We employ a total of 45 people in various departments. In addition to these salesmen and drivers, we can count on the contribution of the administrative staff and that of the sales office, which is flanked by the warehouse workers. They are entrusted with the management of 2,800 square meters of indoor space for storage of our products. It should also be noted that a recent renovation has increased the capacity of the cold area fivefold: in fact, a new -20°C frozen cell has been built with about 800 pallet places, in addition to the existing cell, with about 300 pallet places. Your head office is located in Ronchi Dei Legionari in the province of Gorizia, a frontier territory that naturally projects you across the border. What are the problems and opportunities in working with foreign countries? As a matter of fact, our area of activity crosses the national borders touching also the whole of Slovenia and Croatia, where today we go as far as the coast to Split and Zadar. The approach with these situations was not easy at first: we had to overcome the disadvantage of proposing a range characterized by quality products with prices often higher than the average of their local suppliers. Over time, however, our own quality, combined with MAGAZINE