The Italian fresh produce business is in shock today following the tragic news that Maurizio Pisani, one of the industry’s foremost marketing experts, was one of at least 27 reported victims who lost their lives in a head-on train collision near Bari on Tuesday.
Pisani, 49, was a highly intelligent and hugely respected individual who, for two decades, brought an impressive mixture of excellence and elegance to the marketing of branded, fast-moving consumer goods. More recently, he was brave and determined enough to invest the expertise he had acquired in his own venture, making a notable success of the consultancy Pisani Food Marketing.
Having studied business and economics in Pavia, Pisani gained an MBA from the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan before cutting his commercial teeth as a merchandising manager at Coca-Cola.
He proved himself during a three-year stint at the soft drinks company, then left in April 1995 to take on the role of European general manager for packaged goods at the tropical fruit multinational Chiquita. After ten years he was promoted to marketing director in March 2006, becoming practically synonymous with the company in the Italian market.
Subsequently, Pisani moved to a new role as commercial director of Fresh Del Monte Italy in July 2011, but after just over a year he opted to form Pisani Fresh Marketing, encouraged by what he saw as strong demand among Italian fruit and vegetable companies and producer organisations for assistance in developing effective marketing programmes.
Despite going it alone in August 2012, Pisani remained very much in demand as a source of insight and expertise. In March of last year he published a detailed guide to food marketing entitled Questa non è una banana (This is not a banana).
And in recent months, he also featured as an expert on Canale 5’s La Ricetta Perfetta (The Perfect Recipe), a television programme conceived in partnership with retailer Lidl Italia as a kind of talent show focusing not only on cooking skills but also a more sophisticated level of menu development, product branding and marketing.
A great character
Commenting on the sad news of Pisani’s passing, Rolando Drahorad of Modena-based media agency NCX Drahorad commented: “It’s shocking, terrible news. The sector has lost a great character and we have lost a friend and partner. My condolences to his family.”
As of Wednesday evening, more than 100 friends had left messages of condolence on his Facebook profile for the wife and young daughter he leaves behind. The messages expressed great sadness at the loss of “a humble and friendly man” and “an excellent expert in the fresh produce sector” who had a “sunny and positive” disposition and, notably, an “unforgettable smile”.
Pisani’s passion for improving buyers’ and consumers’ appreciation of Italian fresh fruit and vegetables will be hard to replace.
Writing in the January 2013 issue of Eurofruit, Pisani wrote about the untapped opportunity for fresh produce trademarks in Italy, describing the country’s still highly fragmented retail scene as an “ideal scenario to build strong and profitable brands”.
“In our country, private labels have one of the lowest levels of penetration in Europe and many food companies have been able to build empires based on their brands. Think of Ferrero’s Nutella or Barilla pasta,” he commented. “With this as our backdrop, you might be surprised when shopping for fruit and vegetables in a Coop or Conad store here. The reality is that in Italy too, fresh produce is a largely unbranded category.”
He added: “Sure, we are beginning to witness some signs of improvement, but there is still a huge amount to do and there are still so many opportunities in the market for us to exploit. In the end, Italians do love their brands… Not making the most of that tendency in the fresh fruit and vegetable business looks very much like a chance missed.”
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