Internationalization and marketing strategies of Italian food firms: Evidences from a family-owned company

Abstract

The present work will try to develop considerations and analysis of today’s internationalization processes of family businesses. The goal is to answer a series of questions that allows us to understand why companies are internationalized, how they do it and which aspect is kept unchanged. The paper then turns its attention to an Italian case to analyse the strategic vision and in which ways the company intended to transmit their image abroad, focusing on marketing tools, new phenomena and the potential of the brand ‘Made in Italy’. The questions kept in mind during the research are: what is the behaviour, what are the modalities and strategies of internationalization of Italian businesses up to this day? Is collaborations used for a better outcome on international markets? Do Italian companies adapt and localize the product according to the needs of the selected international market? Is communication different from that made in the country of origin? This phenomenon has led companies to create new synergies and open up new scenarios, giving rise to a new competitive arena. The objectives of dissertation are firstly, try to define the models and new paths for the internationalization of family businesses that are able to incorporate the Italian peculiarities and those of sector, then through a specific case, define the strategic vision of an Italian company and the ways in which it intended to sell itself abroad. Lastly to determine the international marketing tools mostly used for foreign markets in the last years in order to establish strategies for small-medium sized Italian businesses that intend to engage continuously abroad. Chapter one is all about the process of internationalization (the context, the procedure and the internationalization of Italian family businesses), chapter two deals with ‘Made in Italy’ in the food sector, discussing about the importance of quality, the main issue present today in this industry, exports and future destinations and a successful marketing story on the enhancement of Italian food products abroad. Chapter three moves its attention towards a specific sector: cured meats. First, by highlighting its general characteristics and then by subsequently entering into the merits of one of the main Italian competitors, Fratelli Beretta, who have been developing new trends and marketing strategies in order to reach new markets and have been giving importance to the cultural and non-cultural implications affecting the sector. The research methodology used to analyse the international experience of the selected company and to deepen the understanding of the right approach towards the market, is a qualitative one.