Atlante
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The Emilia-based company that “suggests” the right products to every supermarket

Avvenire, 27 July 2024
Chiara Pazzaglia

Atlante, a company founded 30 years ago in the Bologna area, suggests the most suitable purchases to large retailers based on store location and customer preferences. Natasha Linhart, CEO, stated, “We are the only ones doing this type of work in Italy.”

Atlante is celebrating its 30th anniversary by breaking the mould, as always. The company, based in Casalecchio di Reno (Bologna), was founded by Natasha Linhart when she discovered her son was lactose intolerant. Finding no suitable milk substitutes in supermarkets – only very expensive pharmacy alternatives – she had the idea to offer these products to large retailers. The result was a resounding success.

Since then, the company has continued to operate in a completely unexpected way. Atlante does not represent producers to the major retail chains; instead, it finds the right product for each supermarket. From pasta to cheese, eggs to sauces, Atlante always manages to suggest the most suitable purchase for the shelves of large retailers, who are the company’s main clients. In a completely inverted approach, CEO Natasha Linhart steers both the Italian and international markets by importing and exporting local excellence, all while keeping a close eye on consumer preferences.

“Today, high-protein products like Greek yogurt, as well as gluten-free and fat-free options, are very popular,” she explains. Over these thirty years, consumers and consequently her clients have become much more demanding. The market has adapted: “Discount stores now offer excellent products at reasonable prices,” she notes, highlighting the challenge of finding quality yet affordable foods.

Similarly, Atlante identifies companies that can produce for the so-called private labels, or “supermarket brands,” for the major chains. “When these chains want to test a product before marketing it under their own brand,” Linhart explains, “we supply it to them under our own label. Sometimes this solution is temporary, and if the product is well-received, it is marketed as a private label. Other times, the brand is so successful that it continues to be distributed under our own label.”

Competitors? There are none. “We are the only ones doing this type of work in Italy,” says the founder. However, competition is becoming increasingly fierce among producers and distributors, and the bar for quality, price, and sustainability requirements is constantly rising. Linhart then makes some predictions about the future of the market. “There is increasing attention to social and environmental sustainability and the ethics of production companies,” she observes. This trend applies to both the end consumer and the distributor. “We are moving towards a significant reduction in meat consumption,” she notes. This shift can be achieved with substitutes, “like insects or synthetic meat, which don’t seem like the best choices to me,” she continues. “Or by replacing animal protein with plant protein, such as legumes. This, combined with greater awareness of the possibility of eating less meat without health consequences, seems to me the preferable option.”

Atlante celebrates its 30th anniversary with 107 employees, including those in the UK team, and aims for a turnover of 350 million euros by 2026, with expansion projects worldwide, even in Japan, where the company already has several clients. Thus, it provides an important yet quiet contribution to promoting made-in-Italy products globally, remaining somewhat under the radar but offering significant service to the reputation good food abroad.