Qualitaly_111

JUN. JUL. 2019 III LeftOver Lovers, against waste starts with cold cuts Empowering the catering industry and its customers by experimenting with participative innovative ways and means to reduce the amount of food ordered or left-over in the dish, starting with the use of Foodie-Bags. Here enters the project LeftOver Lovers (LoL) (literally translated from English “lovers of leftovers”), which was recently presented in Otranto by the agency De-LAB, with the support of the Istituto Valorizzazione Salumi Italiani (Ivsi), and which will take place in May in the territory of Salento. “We welcomed with enthusiasm the proposal of Lucia Dal Negro (founder of the agency De-LAB) to participate in the project LeftOver Lovers in Salento - said the director of Ivsi Monica Malavasi - because we believe in the importance of social innovation and the fight against food waste (among the objectives of the UN Agenda 2030). As Istituto Valorizzazione Salumi Italiani we promote sustainability and social responsibility through the IVSI Manifesto, which is based on seven values: history and tradition, information and culture, quality and sustainability, ties with the territory, Italian lifestyle, teamwork and future orientation. The Manifesto IVSI is, therefore, a paper that sets out principles, values and characteristics that serve as a guideline for companies that decide to adhere to and subscribe to it; a modus operandi applied and shared by the Consortium members of the Institute, who voluntarily decide to be part of it.” AT PAGE 10 Qi Partners Grow by focusing on the full service Agenzia Lombarda, a point of reference in the food supply for restaurants, food and street vendors, has enhanced its assortment into non-food thanks to the acquisition of Fe.ma. Declared goal: responding to every need of the customer By Chiara Bandini In an increasingly globalised and competitive market, in order to grow, it is often necessary to go beyond the confines of the already- manned world. Agenzia Lombarda, a specialist of the food experience, understood this well and has chosen to expand its range, enhancing an area complementary to its historic core business. At the end of 2017 the company completed the acquisition of Fe.ma, the point of reference in the supply of equipment for bars and restaurants. The operation was desired by the Sassi family, for two generations the driving force behind Agenzia Lombarda, previously with the founders - Maura and Ivano together with brother Roman - and today, with their respective children, Massimo and Andrea and Manuela. Here they tell of the more recent stages of the expansion of the company and anticipate the next developments. Why acquire Fe.ma? We were motivated by a specific goal: to give our customers a complete range, able to interpret every need of the catering business. In other words, we wanted to strengthen the role of the “ideal partner” for the Horeca world. We have, therefore, seized the opportunity to acquire a rather small - having only 5 employees - but very well-established company and one known in the Milan area, which represents for Agenzia Lombarda the main catchment area. As a result, Fe.Ma has brought a much wider range of non-food products than the one already in our portfolio. Can you explain further? Over the course of the years, Agenzia Lombarda had already included in its range non-food products for the catering industry. It was, however, a basic and undifferentiated catalogue, in which were located detergents, disposable articles, cutlery, dishes and glasses. Due to the integration with the range of Fe.ma, today we are able to offer a wide range of products. And we are also able to offer a high degree of customisation, arriving at the creation of products bearing logos or brands of specific operators in the catering industry. In the latter case, you also guarantee storage. What does that mean? Orders of branded products require the production of a rather significant minimum quantity. Our customers do not always, however, have spaces large enough to store whole pallets. From here, there is the possibility to store the goods at our warehouses and be able to receive them in several tranches on the basis of individual needs. Who are the potential customers of your new non-food catalogue? The new range aims to represent a valid complement to already on offer to the players of the commercial and collective catering active in the area of Milan and its outskirts and in the provinces of Lodi, Lecco, Pavia, Como, Varese, Alessandria, Monza: restaurants, hotels, bars, pizzerias, delicatessens, retail food, catering companies, canteens. Agenzia Lombarda has not forgotten its core business, namely food, where it focused mainly on the strengthening of frozen sector... In 2017 we set up a large frozen cell which has allowed us to increase the storage from the previous 30 pallet places to the existing 300 places. And the results are not slow to arrive: in 2018 we recorded a sales increase of 50% compared to