Eataly and new food retail models in Brand Management. Fast food vs Slow food

Abstract

The work will focus on the case of Eataly, an Italian company with an innovative approach on food retail. The subject of analysis will be Eataly as a brand an the branding strategy that allowed the company to combine some aspects that are usually perceived as opposites. Eataly manages to integrate a brand luxury logic and farmer’s market like models while having some characteristics of a large scale retailer. Italy and made in Italy are probably the single most important part of Eataly's DNA but the company is nevertheless expanding internationally from the very start. The storytelling of the company is centered around small and local production sites and high quality products while the sheer size of Eataly’s stores and sales seems to go in the opposite direction. It will be argued that as long as a company acts while staying true to its brand contract (or maybe brand ideology as will be discussed in this case) it is possible to integrate in a coherent manner some apparently opposite philosophies. The case study of Eataly leaves room for further debate on some interesting topics like how a company can be built around the brand, product vs experience vs ideology, the challenge of authenticity and ethical consumption.