There are almost two million young Italians under 35 living abroad. In addition to living far from home, they face the difficulty of finding products made in Italy at affordable prices.
Flavio Nappi, born in 1986, and Romolo Ganzerli, born in 1991, both from Naples and, for years, ex-pats in Paris and Geneva, respectively, made the task easier. In 2015, they understood that an e-commerce platform where to purchase strictly Made in Italy products and receive them quickly was a good idea.
Products to make you feel at home
In 2019, thanks to funds from the European Community, they founded the startup MammaPack® – La Spesa Online per gli Italiani all’Estero an online platform, which is also an ex-pat community where you can buy more than ten thousand Made in Italy food and non-food products that make you feel at home, paying them what you would pay if it were your mother from Italy sending the famous ‘parcel’, and with free shipping for orders from 79 euros. Delivery is within 48 or 72 hours throughout Europe.
A field study to identify the audience
An agreement was made with Oxford University to better identify MammaPack’s customers and create a geo-demographic profile of Italian migrants in Europe. Oxford University conducted a field study using data from the platform’s customers and other sources.
MammaPack’s audience is highly diverse. It includes the yuppies from the 1980s, millennials, new mothers living abroad, and Italian mothers who want to send their children products they trust.
A room of memories for Italians abroad
‘MammaPack is the home, the refuge, the room of memories for Italians abroad,’ said Flavio Nappi, in an interview with Qaplà. “Even the text used for the categories can convey emotions. Thus, the category ‘home care’ becomes ‘elbow grease’ and ‘childhood’ becomes ‘9 months later’. We strongly believe that exploring MammaPack should be like having a conversation with a friend, finding what you want and remembering the emotions that the products have triggered during your teenage years. Abroad, we are all in the same boat, so we are keen to reinforce a spirit of solidarity and mutual support… ”.
An immediate success
MammaPack’s success is immediate: today, more than ten thousand products, including food and non-food items, are available. Moreover, in just over three years, 50,000 orders have been received from all over Europe, and the startup aims to close this year with a turnover of three million euros.
The dream? Naturally and first and foremost, the American dream: many ex-pats overseas would like to use the Mammapack services. But not only that. One of the projects is creating a B2B section for companies.
Congratulations to those who bring Made in Italy products into the homes of ex-pats worldwide!
Learn about other startups that showcase Italian ideas and innovation.