by Thomas Drahorad
I only met Gilberto Molari recently, when in 2019 he was an enthusiastic sponsor of the Blueberry Business Day I had organised to turn the spotlight on berries in Italy.
We had talked at length about the market dynamics of raspberries and blueberries. Gilberto enthusiastically conveyed to me two very clear concepts, which for him were strategies to make the sector grow: the potential of marketing to increase consumption in Italy and the transparency of labels.
CONSUMES AND MARKETING
Gilberto Molari was fascinated by the levels of consumption of berries, and of raspberries in particular, that had been reached in northern European countries. He was familiar with the situation in the Scandinavian countries and pointed out that, with careful marketing in Italy too, it would be possible to benefit from higher consumption levels and he saw the advantages for the whole chain, from the consumer to the nurseryman.
He himself had shown that he believed in communication as a key factor in growing his company. Witness to this is the attention paid to the corporate image that had been the subject of a recent restyling, which had introduced a new logo and effective renaming.
I pointed out to him that in my opinion Molari had perhaps the most beautiful and original logo among the nurserymen of berries around the world and he scoffed with a satisfied smile.
I am sincerely convinced that the logo, developed by an agency in Cesena, has particularly original and effective traits in its colours, fonts and graphic construction, which differ from the "country" and pictorial style that often characterises the images of companies in the berries sector. Here, on the other hand, the colours refer to a non-random action of construction and crossing, which well reflects the activity of an innovative breeder.
Another example of Gilberto Molari's attention to communication was the creation of a logo for his queen variety, Enrosadira.
The logo recalls the raspberry only indirectly, presenting it as a jewel that seals the concept of "enrosadira", a term of Ladin derivation that describes the fascinating pink colouring of the Dolomite rocks at sunset and dawn. There are not many examples of varieties of fruit and vegetables to which a logo has been associated and this seems to me particularly distinctive and significant.
LABEL VARIETY
But the theme that Gilberto Molari was particularly fond of was the enhancement of the name of the variety on the labels of the packages, so that it was clear to everyone, especially consumers, that "there is raspberry and raspberry".
According to Molari, it was only by "playing cards up" that the consumer would begin to know which varieties are the best and look for them again at the point of sale. He was particularly keen to differentiate his raspberry varieties (Enrosadira, Castion and Aurora first and foremost) from the other varieties, perhaps even more widespread but which had been developed more to satisfy logistics and distribution than the consumer's palate.
And he realized that this step forward could not be taken without the collaboration of large retailers, who therefore saw him as an ally in this path of awareness.
His target was therefore the consumer, whom he saw from afar as a breeder at the other end of the chain, but whom he considered to be the main actor to be satisfied through his activity of selecting and propagating berries.
DO YOU KNOW WHEN WE DECIDE TO LAUNCH A NEW VARIETY SHOW? WHEN WE SEE SOMETHING BETTER THAN THE ONES WE ALREADY HAVE.
GOODNESS, BEAUTY, SHELF LIFE, SIZE: THESE ARE ASPECTS THAT ARE OF INTEREST TO THE CONSUMER.
WE ALSO CONSIDER VERY IMPORTANT ASPECTS FOR THE PRODUCER SUCH AS YIELD AT HARVEST AND ABSENCE OF THORNS.
BEAUTIFUL WORK THAT SEES US BUSY EVERY DAY.
Gilberto Molari, 31 August 2019
I like to conclude this brief memory of Gilberto Molari with a sentence that dates back a few months ago, in which he summarized on his Facebook profile his passion for his work and his confidence in the fruits it would bring:
HARVESTING HAS BEGUN IN OUR NEW EXPERIMENTAL FIELD. GOOD FEELINGS FOR THE FUTURE.
Gilberto Molari, 31 August 2019
