Park Street Insider Podcast What It Takes— Italicus Founder Giuseppe Gallo
When Giuseppe Gallo founded Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto in 2016, he had dreams of creating a culturally iconic symbol for Italy, like Armani or Ferrari. It's this vision that guided his decision-making while he was building the brand and ultimately caught Pernod Ricard's eye in 2020.
On this episode of the Park Street Insider Podcast, Emily Pennington and Gallo explore his journey in the alcohol business. They how his career in hospitality and experience as the global brand ambassador for Bacardi's Martini, led to Gallo's own venture.
He delivers an overview of the cordial and liqueurs and explains how his brand went about becoming a category leader. Listeners will hear how Gallo used his core entrepreneurial values of vision, innovation, and ethics to capitalize on a cordial and liquor category that was just starting to pick up steam when he founded the brand in 2019.
Gallo will also explain why targeting major U.S. markets like New York, Miami and Los Angeles right away was the right choice for his brand. He makes the case for a "citadel approach" to market entry and gets into his experience going door to door to pitch the brand. He also gets specific about the nature of Italics's partnership with Pernod Ricard and looks ahead to what's on tap for 2023.
Episode Breakdown:
0:19 - Beverage-Alcohol news from January
2:40 - Background on Cordials and Liqueurs
6:52 - Gallo's 3 key entrepreneurial values
9:40 - Gallo's background in hospitality
15:03 - Takeaways from Gallo's time as a brand ambassador at Bacardi
18:14 - The renaissance of Italian spirits in beverage-alcohol
20:03 - The founding of Italicus
21:50 - Gallo's milestone brand decisions
22:42 - Gallo on the importance of winning the on-premise to his strategy
28:07 - Why Gallo targeted major markets right away
30:15 - Partnership with Pernod Ricard
34:15 - Overview of Italics's global footprint
37:40 - Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs
38:21 - Using competitions as a brand-building moment
45:00 - Looking ahead to 2023
Key Quote:
"Without vision, you'll never be able to hold strong in a difficult time. There are so many different people and projects and whispers throughout your journey than can distract you from the final goal. It's important to always have a vision in mind of what you are trying to achieve because you're going to have limited resources and time."
In this episode you'll hear from:
Giuseppe Gallo, CEO, and Founder, Italicus
Mentioned in this episode:
Italicus
SAVOIA Americano
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