[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Just as we do with our customers, we also follow a clear protocol for our suppliers, who are true partners of the company.
\nMy father, Bernardo Caprotti, always treated them with the utmost fairness and respect \u2014 starting with a fundamental principle: punctual payments. Our payment terms were consistently much shorter than the industry average.<\/p>\n
We have carried on this approach, strengthening the existing practices. In 2001, ESD \u2014 the purchasing alliance co-founded with Selex \u2014 recorded an average payment term of 86 days, 24 days below the market average.
\nEsselunga\u2019s own average was even lower.<\/p>\n
Suppliers also know that our logistics operations are more cost-efficient compared to others: delivering goods to just two warehouses (in Milan and Florence) is much simpler than distributing to dozens of hypermarkets scattered across Italy. That\u2019s what the table under \u201callocations per decision point\u201d refers to.<\/p>\n
Then there are the rules:<\/p>\n
I have always prioritized impartiality in supplier selection, promoting collaboration, fairness, and transparency. At the same time, I have deliberately supported \u201clocal economic activities and employment by giving preference to small and medium-sized suppliers\u201d (i.e., those with annual revenue below \u20ac100,000; in 2003, at the time of the first\u00a0Social Report<\/i>, they represented about 70% of the total).<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve worked to highlight the value of Italian SMEs, \u201cpromoting the sale of domestic products and the protection of traditional production.\u201d These products were offered locally to customers who knew and appreciated them \u2014 and were happy to buy them.<\/p>\n
It may seem obvious today, but at the time, Esselunga followed a very different policy: product selection was dictated top-down, and many excellent, traditional items \u2014 unknown in stores located far from their region of origin \u2014 remained unsold. Changing that approach was one of the great revolutions that reshaped the identity of Esselunga.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, suppliers know we don\u2019t play games. We have taken part in three major antitrust actions: one against the book pricing cartel, one against the baby food market, and another against Coca-Cola for abuse of dominant position.<\/p>\n
The most notable case was in the late 1990s, when we took on a giant like Coca-Cola. They tried to impose their own rules on us as distributors of their products \u2014 but we fought back and won.
\n“From that moment on,”<\/i>\u00a0I wrote,\u00a0“other suppliers, before taking actions that might harm us, started reaching out to understand what our response would be.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(Caprotti,\u00a0Le ossa<\/i>, p. 184).
\nIt was a well-deserved victory \u2014 and a powerful one in securing long-term respect.<\/p>\n
From fair payment practices to clearly defined rules, our suppliers have always been considered key partners in Esselunga\u2019s \u201cvirtuous circle\u201d of people\u2013customers\u2013suppliers.<\/p>\n
During the presentations of my book\u00a0Le ossa dei Caprotti<\/i>, held around Italy, I received heartfelt messages of appreciation from suppliers. Even after two decades since my departure, many confirmed that my policies had left a lasting, positive mark.[\/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ gap=”15″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1756365852375-b433c8d5-7e75-8″ include=”68245,68246,68248,68250,68175,68176″][vc_column_text]Bibliography<\/b><\/p>\n
G. Caprotti, Le ossa dei Caprotti. Una storia italiana<\/i>, Milano, 2024\/3. From timely payments to transparent rules, suppliers have always been considered key partners in Esselunga\u2019s \u201cvirtuous circle\u201d of employees, customers, and suppliers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":68252,"template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-68173","protagonista","type-protagonista","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/68173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/protagonista"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/68173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68253,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/68173\/revisions\/68253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nID., Il localismo toscano di Esselunga<\/a>
\nID., Storia: Valori e principi delle Risorse Umane di Esselunga<\/a><\/i>, 22\/02\/2022.
\nID., Storia: i valori nei fatti. La responsabilit\u00e0 sociale di Esselunga<\/i><\/a>, 16\/03\/25.
\nID., Esselunga contro Coca-Cola<\/a>
\nID., Esselunga nella Centrale ESD Italia, punto 4\u00b0: il metodo e i risultati. Nel ricordo di Sergio Pelassa<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"