Economy – It’s Italian coffee and liquor that are making waves abroad this week! The financial pages of the foreign press have been mostly concerned with Italian groups that are on the up. Le Monde wrote about Campari, saying that the “king of spritz is now also betting on Cognac” explaining that the company is now making inroads in the liquor sector thanks to numerous recent acquisitions and a well-oiled marketing machine (October 17 – Gruppo Campari, le roi du spritz, mise sur le cognac*). For the Wall Street Journal on the other hand, it was Lavazza and also Illy’s new international partnership, announced last week, that featured in an article all about coffee that explained how Italy’s two coffee giants are bolstering their businesses in order to ensure their future independence in a sector currently experiencing rapid consolidation (October 13 – Lavazza and Illy Say ‘Basta’ as Global Coffee Wars Come to Italy*).
Tourism & Culture – several articles in the foreign press this week carried news that combined both these sectors with Pompeii – the second most visited site by tourists after the Colosseum – as their primary focus thanks to the latest archaeological discoveries made by Massimo Osanna’s team who are now convinced that the date of the famous eruption that destroyed the town is not the one previously believed. (Washington Post, October 16 – New Pompeii discovery shifts date of Mount Vesuvius eruption; The Guardian, October 16 – Archeological find changes date of Pompeii’s destruction; El Pais, October 17 – Pompeya ardió dos meses después) whilst another, earlier in the week in the New York Times, also quoted what Osanna himself had to say about the “well preserved wall painting” and its “incredible” decoration (October 11 – Elaborate Ancient Shrine is Excavated From the Ashes of Pompeii*).
El Pais headed even further south to write about ‘Etna “the slowly moving giant” (October 10 – El Etna, un gigante en constante movimiento hacia el mar). But it was central Italy however, that prompted articles from the Washington Post and the New York Times that described their two different experiences of the Tuscan countryside (October 16 – Basking in the Tuscan Sun; October 17 – In Tuscany, Farms Embrace Nature — and Visitors. Meantime Le Monde reviewed photographer Guido Guidi’s “Per Strada” exhibition and his pictures that encapsulate everyday life along the via Emilia that runs from Milan to Rimini (October 16 – L’humble Italie du photographe Guido Guidi*) whilst El Pais was further north still in order to write about Franco Blumer, the restorer who is busy making the famous Madonnina of Milan’s duomo “shine again” (October 13 – El restaurador del vértigo). Milan was also the starting point for Les Echos in an article about the life of Gio Ponti that described him as a “monument of European design” and is currently being feted in a tribute exhibition mounted in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris (October 12 – Gio Ponti, monument du design italien). The Financial Times was even further north in order to write about how the Alpine resorts of Bardonecchia, Sestriere and La Thuile are now amongst Europe’s best-value ski destinations (October 12 – Head to Bulgaria and Italy for best-value European ski resorts) whilst Bloomberg mentioned two Italian contenders – in Bolzano and Courmayeur – amongst those it said were the year’s best ski hotels (October 18 – These Are the Best New Ski Hotels of the Year).
Style – In the luxury sector, Prada, the “legendary fashion brand”, featured in a piece o in Bloomberg Businessweek (October 16 – The Devil Instagrams Prada*). However it was Gucci’s Creative Director, Alessandro Michele, and how in just 3 years he has managed to “shift the industry’s course, altering the way the world sees value, gender and even identity” who featured in the New York Times Style Magazine (October 15 – Alessandro Michele, Fashion’s Modern Mastermind*). Handelsblatt was focused on the life and times of Alberto Alessi, the founder and man behind the success of the Italian group that carries his name, describing him as a leading force in the design world (October 16 – Wie der Alessi-Chef aus einem Handwerksbetrieb ein Designimperium formte). Another leader featured in the same German paper on the other hand, currently celebrating its 70 years in the contemporary furniture sector, and talked about the “sober elegance” of Minotti’s style (October 15 – Minotti – Nüchterne Eleganz aus Italien). L’Economiste ran a piece about the “alliance” between the Emilia based Italian group ABK that produces tiles and Morocco’s Facemag, and the recent agreement that will enable the former to increase its presence in North Africa and the latter to launch itself as a player in the market for higher quality products in the sector (October 16 – Facemag s’allie à l’italien ABK).