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| Carlo Pontecorvo, president of Ferrarelle |
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Ferrarelle reverted to Italian hands when the Pontecorvo family acquired the luxury bottled water company in 2005. Under its new owners, the company has gone from near bankruptcy to a business with solid fundamentals ready to weather any tough market.
Even amid fierce competition in the Italian market, Ferrarelle is back to being a force to be reckoned with. Of the 300 different brands in the domestic market alone, Ferrarelle is the No. 1 sparkling water and the only brand that can boast 100 percent natural certification.
It is exactly this unique competitive advantage that Ferrarelle believes will continue to increase its market share and expand into new countries in the coming years.
“Due to the fact that the Italian market is saturated, one of my top priorities has been and is to increase our exports,” says Carlo Pontecorvo, president of Ferrarelle.
“In some countries, Ferrarelle is already a well-known brand due to the fact that these countries have a large Italian expatriate community. We want to capitalize on this brand recognition internationally,” he adds.
But Ferrarelle’s goal is not simply to expand its markets.
“We want to be known as we are in Italy for the quality of our product. We want to create awareness of the brand and its superiority,” he says.
“In the short term, we want to be positioned in the best restaurants and bars in Italy and around the world. Our goal is to reach the distribution levels of our larger competitors while maintaining our high-quality product,” he also says.
Pontecorvo envisions Japan to be a major player in his company’s coming expansion.
“I think the Japanese are very interested in Italian culture, and in items that are natural and healthy. This is our priority – to educate the Japanese public on Ferrarelle’s position as the only 100 percent Italian and 100 percent natural sparkling water on the market,” he explains.
Ferrarelle has a comprehensive plan to increase exports and grow in the coming years. It has added new lines in its two major plants in Italy, allowing them to produce more bottles while maintaining quality.
www.ferrarelle.it |