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exploring taste – Spring/Summer 2016 heritage – Lunch with Gaetano Marzotto

the center, which privileges a good balance between work and Do any of the so-called 'new markets' intrigue you particularly
leisure. If you look at some Anglo-Saxon cultures, the only or where you can see specific potentialities?
thing that matters is how much you earn and how much you
spend, while we support different values, that deal with the I am fascinated with the potentialities China and India have
quality of life. And I mean several things when I say ‘quality to offer. We need to work on the right formulas to export
of life’: the use of our spare time, friendships, the ability to en- the Italian lifestyle to these places, not only food and wine I
joy the beautiful cities we live in, traveling. Our style is based mean, but also the automotive industry, fashion, design. We
more on being than on having. Maybe we’ll earn less than see it every day with the fashion brands which have been able
Americans, for instance, but we live better than them; pro- to sell remarkable quantities of products; I do think there is
vided with the same income level, in several Italian areas the potential there for food and wine too. And this applies to us
quality of life is higher than in other countries. And we are as well: the Chinese are very good at producing, they have in-
exporting all this thanks to our products: not only wine, but credible possibilities of exporting high-level products. I hope
also fashion, furniture, automobiles and lots of other things, for a true and intense exchange of cultures and innovation.
especially food.
When tourists arrive in Italy, and they are more than 50 million This, if I may, reflects your grandfather’s curiosity, from which
a year, they recognize that with a moderate price they can drink everything was born. I would like to ask you a further consider-
fantastic wine and eat delicious food, in astonishing places. ation about the U.S. and their long love story with Santa Mar-
Following on this, a lot of foreigners established their residence gherita wines. Are there any further steps to be made?
in some Italian regions: the well-known example of Chiant-
ishire, discovered by the Brits, is among the first manifestations We have the great chance of being our own importers in the
of this phenomena, followed by Marche and Puglia, that are be- U.S. and this will allow us to sell not only our Pinot Gri-
coming very cool lately. Of course, there are also things which gio, Prosecco and Chianti Classico, but all of our wines. I
could be improved: we are not organized enough, we cannot see enormous room for growth. An example: it seems that
rely on good infrastructures, our transport system isn’t devel- Americans know only Champagne, but when they try Fran-
oped enough. Actually, the birth of places where those who love ciacorta Ca’ del Bosco, they change their minds. American
Italy could live happily should be encouraged. millennials love Prosecco.

In your opinion how important is teamwork when it comes Who can blame them, after all.
to exporting our lifestyle and consequently our products
and companies?

At Santa Margherita, we have made extraordinary progress in
several countries. First of all in Italy, where we became leaders
with our Pinot Grigio but also with other wines, such as Pro-
secco, Müller-Thurgau, Chardonnay. This is due to the fact that
we invested not only in the quality of our products, but also
in their distribution: we have one of the best sales networks in
the entire sector. We have been able to achieve an astonishing
success in the US – and there is no such thing as a free lunch
in this business – because our team works perfectly. The true
challenge of the upcoming years will be replicating the same
success in other regions. Actually, we have already started to
work on this: Canada, the Caribbean, Europe. These are all
great markets for us. And our importance is growing in Aus-
tralia, Japan, Korea and China. I’ll repeat it: there is no room
for improvisation, you need a solid team that is equipped for
the challenges it will face, working together in order to reach a
common goal.

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