Vincenzo's Italian Coffee Out to Conquer the World

VINCENZO NICOLOSI, A GRADUATE OF THE MASTER IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS STRATEGY IN 2013, FOUNDED A COMPANY THAT TODAY IS LEADER IN THE SALE OF COFFEE CAPSULES IN ITALY. BUT HE'S NOT DONE

The calling to be an entrepreneur is something that you have inside from childhood, you just have to find the ways and the environment needed to make it happen. Vincenzo Nicolosi, 30 year old Sicilian from Messina, started, as he himself says, "running clubs and organizing parties, but it was almost a game". Vincenzo then enrolled at the University of Messina, graduating in Economics, and then looked around for a Master degree that would prepare him to realize his dream.

"I identified the MISA program because I wanted to deepen my knowledge and acquire the skills to found something, even if I didn't know exactly in what area." During the master, in 2013, Vincenzo Nicolosi entered an internship at Dalani Home & Living, as an assistant to the product manager, quickly becoming product manager in turn and holding positions of increasing responsibility. “I stayed there for over a year and a half, then I moved on to Crido Consulting, a company that offered advice on the online sale of furnishings. Then, in November 2015, I was contacted by my current partner and my adventure began, and it continues today ”.

The adventure is called Il Caffè Italiano, and in its current form it officially started at the beginning of 2016. "We are a portal that markets coffee in capsules directly to individuals, who can choose from a vast catalog and order the quantities they want, without a minimum purchase order," says Vincenzo, "but we are also changing hats, going from being simple retailers to creators of our exclusive brand ". Currently Il Caffè Italiano does 60% of its sales in Italy, but in the aforementioned change there is also an increasingly strong presence on the international market. “We want to move to 80% of sales abroad, taking advantage of the Italian factor that in this sector it has great appeal to consumers ", continues Vincenzo Nicolosi," both directly on our site and through its presence on the main digital platforms, such as Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba and others. Our goal is to become the first Digitally Native Vertical Brand in the world of coffee and in particular in the capsule segment.
This is because it is now so important to establish an inceasingly direct relationship with our end customers, and this approach allows it ”.

In this adventure of his, Vincenzo was able to appreciate and put into practice what he learned from MISA and its network: "MISA teaches you to see things in a 360° perspective, from any business function. It teaches you a little bit of everything, then you can learn more about what interests you most. Then there are the people you meet, and sooner or later you run into them again. For example, we buy coffee from a classmate of mine who is also from Messina... ".
 

by Davide Ripamonti
Translated by Richard Greenslade