What is the strategy that led Manor Food to undertake these major renovations?
«In the last few years we have started a profound renovation and innovation work of our points of sale, based on the application of the concept that every act of purchase must be transformed into a real experience. In this sense, in addition to the values of freshness and quality, the supermarket must be inspired by the climate, the flavor and the colors of a traditional market. From this point of view, Ticino represents an extraordinary laboratory precisely because its culture is closest to that of the traditional market spread throughout the Mediterranean area».
In your gastronomic proposal, specific attention is focused on local Ticino products. What role do you attribute to collaboration with companies in the Ticino food chain?
«The local offer has been significantly expanded and supplemented with homemade Ticino specialities. The eight departments offer fresh, seasonal food every day, such as fruit and vegetables or cheese, meat and fish specialities. In the new cellar there are over 500 wines from all over the world, but with particular attention to local producers. The assortment is completed by an in-house bakery and pastry shop, a modern bar and four food stands that prepare healthy and balanced menus every day. The supermarket is thus transformed into a real market square and the store manager becomes the protagonist of relations with local producers, who he selects and chooses and with whom he defines commercial agreements».
An important presence will also be reserved for Italian specialties and the offer of products from around the world. How do you plan to manage the alternation of this vast range of proposals?
«Local products are, as I said, a priority for Manor Food Lugano, as well as for the other 26 locations in Switzerland. These products complete the range of the standard ones and with its "local" program Manor Food now has more than 700 suppliers nationwide and an assortment of over 5000 products. The attention is paid to the origin, the recipe, the quality and the innovative products of local agriculture. Certified local products are subject to strict quality control. With «local», Manor promotes sales opportunities for small production companies and ensures greater sustainability, also thanks to diversity and short transport routes. In fact, producers can only come from a maximum radius of 30 kilometers as the crow flies from the Manor Food branch they supply».
In the renovation projects of Manor Food are you going to propose this format again in other cities in Switzerland or elsewhere?
"Absolutely yes. This new supermarket concept put into practice in Lugano is based on 4 pillars: freshness, local, homemade and experienced employees thanks to which we see ourselves as ambassadors of a healthy lifestyle and want to offer our customers a local assortment with a vast know-how. Manor Food's experienced staff provide professional and knowledgeable advice. In addition, the food stands offer balanced menus for a healthy lifestyle every day. And this model, with the necessary specificities of each territorial context, can be replicated in all regions of Switzerland".
Manor already supports Tavola Svizzera and the Magic Table association by offering them unsold food products. In the fight against food waste, Manor is now collaborating with Too Good To Go. Can you tell us how this application works and its advantages?
«As we well know, food waste is one of the main problems of our time. Too Good To Go means "too good to be thrown away" and is the app that allows pizzerias, bars, restaurants, bakeries, pastry shops, and indeed supermarkets to sell unsold food online at discounted prices through the Magic Boxes. These are packs containing products and ready meals, discounted on average between 33% and 50% of their value. The "magic" consists in the "surprise". In fact, Magic Boxes are bought sight unseen, without knowing what is contained therein, except by intuition. As a supermarket we offer fresh and non-fresh products, more or less close to expiry, giving a second life to foods that would otherwise be eliminated, bearing in mind that generally these are not sufficient quantities to be collected by the various charities. Together with numerous other solutions that we have adopted, we promote a conscious choice in favor of consumers and at the same time of the environment and the planet".
With the aim of becoming a point of reference on the Swiss market for organic products, Manor also collaborates with Farmy, an online marketplace for fresh and regional foods. What are the opportunities offered today by the online trade of food products?
«We are facing an important and probably irreversible transformation process which we must take into account, exploring all its great potential. At the moment our online sales are focused on wines and delicacies, but our range will soon be expanded and will include an ever wider basket of products».
