La Formaggeria Gran Moravia won the Mastercard award “Obchodni roka”
as the "Best Retail Chain of Year 2016" in Czech Republic
A fantastic result has been achieved by "La Formaggeria Gran Moravia" that operates 19
stores across the Czech Republic. La Formaggeria Gran Moravia took 65 per cent of the votes,
Giants Globus and Lidl dividing the remainder 19% and 16% respectively.
On January 31st at the Retail Summit 2017 in Prague, following a passionate presentation
held by the three finalists, a panel of 500 judges awarded La Formaggeria Gran Moravia
because of the "unique purchasing experience" that grants to its customers .
“An unexpected achievement we got thanks to the great group of 150 people doing amazing
work: starting with store clerks, shop managers, buyers, cheese-making dpt., logistic dept., diary
experts, Italian suppliers and last but not least thanks to the support of our loyal customer!.
It is the Winner of the best Italian food culture, majestically interpreted by the Czech people”,
said Roberto Brazzale, author of the retail shops project. Brazzale Group is the only European
dairy manufacturing company operating its own stores. “Warmth and passion won over the
Orwellian efficiency of big data. It was a great honor to compete against these two and valuable
Giant.”
It’s been a real joy for La Formaggeria Gran Moravia people : the jury took into
consideration customers appreciation to the irresistible experience created by the store
employees, the value of the proposition and the innovative format of the 19 stores located in
Czech Republic.
The previous editions of the Mastercard Obchodni roka award was won by Ikea, Lidl and
Yves Rocher. Billa, Kaufmann, Tesco, Carrefour and Metro contended the 2016 prize too.
The reward of La Formaggeria Gran Moravia has been crowned by the recognition given by
1.110 attendees to Roberto Brazzale as "the Best Speaker at the Summit".
The presentation was evaluated as evocative, funny, full of passion, dedication and
commitment.
As of February 2017, La Formaggeria Gran Moravia operates 19 stores in Cech Republic. The
first store was opened in 2010. There are over 1.5 million of customers in a year and 80%
of products sold are imported from Italy. The group of stores is housing about 150
employees. The sole Italian retail chain developed outside the national borders,
organized according to the Italian tradition with customers being served directly by the store
staff from the counter. The stores are located in city centers and malls, they reach peaks of
1.600 daily customers per store with sales area in between 60 and 200 sqm.
"The stores– tells Roberto Brazzale – are focused on the quality of service behind the counter in
Czech Republic, as per the Italian tradition to "pamper" customers that show appreciation in
huge ways . The Czech People are cultured, polite, curious and represent the ideal customer. Our
150 Czech store clerks are extraordinary and they love the Italian food culture maybe more
than us, and they are able to convey their passion and knowledge to the final consumer. In
creating this new format I treasured the time spent at my grandfather’s shop, in Asiago, and I
imagined what I would have liked to find, as a consumer, in a deli shop: smile, competence, high
quality and wide variety of products, silence, cleanliness, brightness, elegant furniture,
functionality, sensorial experience, practical tips, information about the products. Moreover,
prices have to be as convenient as possible and the offer must include a choice of big and small
packaging sizes, in order to meet also the request of people that have less purchasing power.
Purchasing power in Czech Republic is significantly growing and it is close to overcome the
Italian consumers’ one, but it is a great joy to see inside our shops a great diversity of consumers,
including students and pensioners, along with wealthy customers. The creation of an artisan
cheese plant inside the manufacturing facility in Litovel, allows us to have our own production
of fresh cheeses and dairy products, such as ricotta, mozzarella, whey, giuncata, yogurt and
many other specialties that comes both from the Italian and Czech traditions. The direct link
between the cheese manufacturing plant and the shops allows the containment of costs and the
purchasing department in Italy is able to carefully select the best suppliers at the most
affordable conditions. The day I realize that purchasing experience in our stores will no longer
be a daily fest, I’ll close them all with my own hands”.
Product Range
A complete range of dairy products “Fresh from our dairy” is always available in the stores
coming directly from the production plant, such as ricotta, mozzarella, curds, butter, milk,
yogurt, flavored whey. Gran Moravia hard cheese and fresh butter still are the main
products that are prepared on demand in store. To complete the range, the shops offer the
full range of cheeses from Italy, the charcuterie, sliced and packed at the moment, and a huge
selection of typical ingredients of Italian cuisine, sweet and salty, carefully selected to ensure
the highest quality at the best price. Beautiful books are available featuring Italian culture
and typical regional recipes and tradition within everyone's mean. 80% of sold products are
coming from Italy: 70 suppliers, 500 different references .
La Formaggeria Gran Moravia news Magazine
In y-2014 La Formaggeria Magazine was created, in order to support customers’ need for
newness and tips on how to make a better use of the items purchased. The magazine, with an
edition of 80.000 copies, is distributed free of charge in all the stores. Customers enjoy classic
Italian recipes from italian chefs with some tidbits on products story, some information on
tourism in Italy and some additional light on Italian cuisine. Besides cultural details, the
magazine provides interviews to notorious personalities as well as articles written just for
kids.
Two cultures with a strong link
The link with Italy is very close, in addition to the daily travel for the store managers and
clerks which includes the proposal of competitions with prizes for the clients for holidays and
ski holidays in touristic places such as Monte Verena ad Asiago, the proposals of promotions
in stores on the part of Italian suppliers, implementation of exhibitions of Italian artists in the
Czech Republic and, most recently, also the proposal of paintings by Italian artists, on display
in stores.
A large painting of Enrico Robusti is displayed in the Brno shop that is located in the main
square of Zelny Trh city. The artist represents the life store in a funny and innovative way.
Brazzale Spa
Working in the dairy industry since 1784, Brazzale spa is the oldest Italian dairy family company, coming from the Asiago
Plateau and carrying on the business uninterruptedly for eight generations. Today the Brazzale Group boasts six
manufacturing facilities dislocated all around the world: in Italy, Czech Republic, Brasil and China and employs more than
700 employees, with a total turnover of 145 million euros, of which 1/3 is exported from Italy to 65 Countries around the
World. Brazzale’s products are marketed with the brands: Burro delle Alpi, Burro Fratelli Brazzale, Zogi, Verena, Alpilatte,
Brazzale, Silvopastoril and Gran Moravia. Since 2003, in Litovel – Moravia (Czech Republic), produces the Gran Moravia
cheese, which is then aged in Italy. In Zanè (VI), since 1898 the group has its headquarters and butter production. After
the merger with the Zaupa family, Brazzale Group produces also provolone and pasta filata and perssed curd cheeses,
Provolone Valpadana DOP and Asiago DOP. All the products manufactured in the Litovel facility are made with the milk
coming from the Gran Moravia Eco-sustainable Chain, which on 2011 obtained the certification for the traceability in
accordance with the rules UNI EN ISO 22005:2008. In Czech Republic Brazzale also created a chain of stores with the
name “La Formaggeria Gran Moravia”, operating 19 shops with 120 store clerks, more than 1.500.000 customers per year,
with the 80% of the products imported from Italy. In 2012 created in Shanghai its own commercial subsidiary and, in
November of the following year, opened a store in Shanghai with the name La Formaggeria Gran Moravia. In Beijing
Brazzale developed a manufacturing facility that produces fresh cheeses for the local market.