Final Recap

Wow - 11 days of travel, cultural experiences, business visits and so much food! The purpose of the trip was to allow myself and others in the program to experience and expose us to the global market outside of the US. The program not only did this but so much more.

Visiting each of the companies allowed me to realize that every business from the foundation is similar. Similar in the desire to serve a market, provide a unique product or service and of course to make money. Each company had to adapt or build into the culture, the ability to survive based on location, cultural and political environments.

It also opened my eyes to the realization that if your desire is to become a successful business leader domestically or globally, you have to be open to different ways of doing and adapting your business. Having this mindset, has allowed me to understand that the US as large of a market as it is, has its own rules and culture that are not necessarily shared globally. Opening up to hearing how these businesses have adapted, has allowed me to see and hopefully put into practice that businesses who are global must be flexible in each market to survive.

This was a great trip, which provided me great experiences culturally and professionally, all of which will provide a life time of memories.

Day 9: Eataly

If you haven't been to Italy and enjoyed authentic Italian food, Eataly besides Italian home cooking is 2nd best.

Eataly is essentially a grocery store with high quality Italian food. We were lucky enough to meet with the CEO and marking VP, both of which were very young.

Together they explained the business philosophy: Eat-Shop-Learn.
Eataly uses small suppliers who only provide high quality food.

They want to target all clients regardless of price point who want high quality food.

What I found most interesting was that at some locations they make no money. But believe it's important to provide high quality food and employ local and national suppliers.

The closest one in the states is NYC. I've been now to both NYC and Rome, and will be going back!

Day 9: St. Peters

Had a quick hour long walk through the basilica in which our tour guide Massimo gave us a short brief on the more important aspects found inside.

We then had a short time to take pictures and move on to lunch.

When visiting plan on spending the whole day there. We were lucky because we had a tour guide who had connections and took us through a 5 min line. Usually the line is 2-3hrs.

Day 9: Radio Vatican

A short walk from St. Peters is the head quarters for Radio Vatican. We were met by Sean Patrick Lovett who has worked for Radio Vatican over 30 years.

He was able to bring a great perspective of the technology change of the media and how getting the Catholic message out has evolved.

We had a very candid conversation with Sean Patrick, who explained the history and now current mission of Radio Vatican.

He was obviously very proud of the history, the linguistic strength providing 40 languages that are broadcasted, and the ability to reach so many people globally.

Day 8: Made it to Rome

Nice train ride down from Parma. Train ran up to 300km/hr...it's way over Amtrak standards.

Had a tour of the Coliseum, the Forum and surrounding area.

Enjoyed a nice lunch at IL Bocconcino.
www.ilbocconcino.com

Now off to find the hotel!

Day 7: Wine Tour

After filling ourselves with prociutteo we made a short trip to Lamoretti winery.

Founded in 1930 and covering 54 acres the wine and location is outstanding.

If you are in Parma it's a must visit, and the castle located in the back drop provides a wonderful tasting experience.

www.lamorettivini.com

Day 7: Prosciutteria Museum

Short bus ride out of Parma to the Prosciutteria museum. Had a historical tour of the origins of prosciutteo and how it was processed. Not for the weak of stomach.

We enjoyed a nice sit down lunch at the museum, which of course features a variety of prosciutteo.

A must stop!

Day 7: Tour of Parma

Great tour with our local guide Elizabeth, who toured us around Parma.

The Farnese Theatre was spectacular and pictures won't do justice. It's a must see in person to experience the full effect.

We also visited the Bapistery, the Parma Domo and Fidenza.

Parma was great, would like to come back to enjoy it more.

Day 6: Dinner in Parma

A wonderful dinner at Osteria I Tre Porcellini. The owner could not have been more accommodating to our group which included a vegetarian.

Had a regional vino for dinner. Which was accompanied by large plates with a variety of prosciutto, a pumpkin pie wrapped in prosciutto with a hot cheese sauce and to finish it off a fresh plate of tomatoes and mozzarella slices drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Great place, would recommend to anyone visiting Parma.

www.itreporcellini.it

Day 6: Acetaia Malpighi - Not your budget Balsamic Vinegar

Stopped in Modena and had a great tour of the facility. The aroma of the balsamic vinegars immediately hit you in a very good way.

Monica took us on a tour of the vinegar stills and explained how they produced and bottled. The top of the line balsamic is called Traditional and comes in 12, 25 and 80 year old favors. During the production 10% is lost each year in evaporation.

To produce 5ml it takes 130ml of liquid and all grapes used for this are grown within 30km of Modena.

Additionally Acetaia also produces two white balsamics.

Very family oriented and part of a larger consortium, which approves all vinegar blends. Which concerns themselves with quality and not profits.

www.massimomalpighi.it

Day 6: Lunch in Bergamo Città Alta

At the top of Bergmo lunch at Ristorante Da Mimmo. Awesome!!!

Day 6: Plastik Visit

Had a great presentation and factory tour at the Plastik plant in Bergamo. Founded in 1961 by a Maria Pontiglio.

Laura Catteno - CEO and granddaughter of the companies founder provided us the presentation and tour. She was very impressive in her knowledge and how the company was managed.

The products they put out are around plastic bags, wraps and hygienic market (diapers, medical). Grown internally and created €60M in revenues during 2011.

Plastik is also growing globally and have made a push to build a plant in Tunisia. They believe that the market is just begging to evolve and see a first mover advantage.

Overall impressive and many of the success elements of the company seem to be best practices directly from an EMBA program.

www.plastik.it

Day 5: Nightlife in Milan

Headed with a small group to the Navigli area of Milano. In 222BC, the Romans conquered Milano, and set forth an expansion of the city along with water needs. The Romans over the next few hundred years built a canal system that brought the ability to get to the Po, which would eventually lead out to the Mediterranean sea.

Because of progress in transportation (automobiles) many of the canals were paved over. The Navigli is the last canal in Milano and is a must see, especially around early evening/dinner time.
(http://www.northernitalywalking.com/2011/08/milan-navigli-alda-merini/) look for The Navigli.

Had a nice 4 course dinner at Ristorante Milano Brellin.
Fantastic place in which the owner made sure we were all taken care of, and had plenty to eat.
We also shared Several bottles of the regional wine were shared among the table. One draw back is we spent €50 on bottled water!
www.brellin.it

Day 5: Boffi Solferino

Was given a tour of the Boffi showroom by Matteo - marketing manager.

If you look at Boffi's website it barely scratches the surface of how impressive the look and products they produce really are.

Boffi is a global company headquartered in Milano, all products are custom designed and are made by Boffi exclusively. They are the only company in the world to provide Kitchen, Bath and Accessories.

Being able to look at their products up close there is a significant difference in quality between similar products found in the states. Features, craftsmanship and customization completely stand out. However there is a 40-50% cost difference.

In 2011 they produced revenues of approximately €60M.

Would love to have a kitchen and bath from them in my house!

www.boffi-Solferino.com

Day 5: US Commercial Services

Was provided a brief from Matthew Zamary - Economic Officer and Andrea Rosa - Commercial specialist on the mission and focus of the agency.

The number one mission is to serve US citizens and companies in northern Italy. With a primary focus on the micro economy. The agency has 35 US employees and 50 Locally engaged staff.

The presentation also included numbers around the Black and Grey markets. Specifically around the new rules and regulations forcing small and medium business's to recognize all revenues.

Take away facts:
- high unemployment of 8.4% with youth unemployment of 30%
- high proportion of manufacturing jobs
- small and medium size businesses dominate the market - 90%
- 12th largest trading partner with the US

Very interesting presentation and both presenters were very open and happy to answer questions.

Day 4: Dinner at Osteria Borsieri

Group dinner, very cozy restaurant and delicious food.

We were served a first course plate of prosciutto and salami along with home made bread.
Main courses had a beef rigatoni and a beef stew. Of course lots of vino!

http://www.milanoristoro.it/osteria_borsieri.html

Day 4: Duomo Milan

Great visit to the Duomo, beautiful church inside and outside. A must visit when in Milano.

Half of the group when shopping in the worlds oldest shopping square. Bring lots of €