AN ADVENTURE BORN IN THE SAN LORENZO DISTRICT OF ROME OVER 100 YEARS AGO AND TODAY SAID TURNOVER OF 10 MILLION EUROS THROUGH FRANCHISING ALONE, CONSOLIDATES THE DOMESTIC MARKET AND LOOKS WITH GROWING INTEREST AT THE FOREIGN MARKET.
This is the story of S.A.I.D., an acronym for “Società Azionaria Industria Dolciumi,” which was founded under the fascist regime and still retains the same company name as when it registered in 1923 with the artisans’ register. In a period of restrictions and authoritarian regimes with a far-sighted eye Aldo De Mauro laid the foundations of a business, which more than 100 years after its creation and in its third generation, will reach 7 outlets this year between Europe and Arab countries.
Italian chocolate in the world
Italian chocolate is enjoying a very successful season worldwide with double-digit annual growth and a positive balance of 994 million euros in the first eight months of 2023, up 5.6 percent from the same period last year. Numbers that consolidate Italy’s important role on the global scene, where it holds a 12 percent share of global chocolate exports. It proves to be a leading product of Italian food exports in some 20 countries, from Saudi Arabia to Brazil. It is precisely on Middle Eastern countries with Dubai, Doha and Ryhad, that SAID has decided to focus, in fact in spring 2024 it will open a new store in Kuwait.
Chocolate Artisans Experts in Hospitality
As third-generation Ceo Fabrizio De Mauro tells it, they have exported not only the products but the company’s philosophy related to the store’s careful design, combined with fine chocolate and a warm welcome. “Our company rests on a unique treasure that is the true perspective of SAID: the vaolours we hand down.” Values that are encapsulated in one definition: Chocolate artisans, independents and hospitality experts.
One notices this as soon as one crosses the threshold of the Antica Fabbrica del Cioccolato; to get there, one must leave Via Tiburtina and take a side street. At the reception, in addition to the service staff, owner Carla De Mauro, sister of the CEO, explains the rooms and equipment once used for processing candy and chocolate.
Equipment still well preserved, arranged in fine display, are now part of the decor: the machines for processing candies, mints, toffee and for the production of gianduiotti, the cocoa bean presses, the metal tables heated by electric resistors for processing the chocolate mixture, the iron molds now hung like pictures on the walls, all in a typical bistro atmosphere. They tell of a past made up of resourcefulness, sacrifice and a steadfastness that has gone through wars, economic crises and pandemics while keeping the bar always straight on quality.
An entrepreneurial project that saw careful renovation in the 2000s, retaining the original 1920s charm. Part of the space was allocated to hospitality with an elegant bar restaurant and bistro in an atmosphere between tradition and innovation. Particularly popular retail model.
“The retail model involves the combination of chocolate with hospitality, an idea that now boasts many imitations-guaranteeing that it is the right path-but it remains unique to SAID, both in terms of design and the judicious exploitation of century-old experience,” says Fabrizio De Mauro.
The company is evolving into a new phase, 2024 will be the year of SAID 2.0 with the goal of increasing profitability that will enable further investment and rapid growth, both in the domestic and foreign markets. The store in Kuwait will be opened in spring, following openings in 2023 in Qatar in Doha, Saudi Arabia in Ryhad, preceded in 2019 in the Emirates in Dubai. Fabrizio De Mauro’s plans also include a return to London, after the recent sale of two stores, and soon a second store in Rome, near Via Giulia.
The numbers of the Antica fabbrica del Cioccolato
The composition of turnover is segmented as follows: 40 percent direct supply to the public; 40 percent supplies to third parties; 20 percent direct sales to the public. The royalty income stream from franchising flows into Dalmati Holding s.r.l., which is still under the De Mauro family. The retail consumer turnover of the franchised stores will soon be close to 10 million euros, also bearing royalties to the parent company of about 6 percent on sales, and to which must be consolidated both the income from the historic store and supplies to third parties.
The major challenge is to reach industry numbers while remaining an artisan workshop.
Carlo Loja
English text: Liana Bicchieri