Interview: For 30 years in the service of an Italophile audience

Source: Weindepot

Interview with Tobias Strunz, Junior manager of “Das Italienische Weindepot“ (“The Italian wine depot“) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Deep in the South of Germany there is a delicatessen store, which deliberately specialized in one country. Aside from wines, “The Italian wine depot“ sells culinary delicacies – from olive oil and vinegar, pasta and pesto to pastries and coffee. In our interview, junior manager Tobias Strunz talks about gourmets and bargain hunters, his social goals and the importance of online retail.


People want to savor things and at the same time they are out on bargain hunts. In your point of view, how has the German delicatessen retail business developed in the course of time?

Unlike the old days, the consumer of today is definitely more price-and quality conscious, which consequently means that he plans his budget for luxury items more carefully – indeed he actually breaks it down. Quality- and price consciousness in our eyes are virtues, which are not mutually exclusive. They are actually an important factor in business life. On the other hand, the hunt for bargains can downright turn into an obsession, and it becomes an end in itself so to speak, where the actual pleasure falls by the wayside.


“The Italian wine depot” has been around for about 30 years. Why is it located in Garmisch-Partenkirchen? Why Italy?

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is in the southernmost district in Germany, close to Austria and not far from Italy. From this close proximity, 30 years ago an Italophile audience grew, which early on through customers and our business activities resulted in a productive collaboration. In addition, Garmisch-Partenkirchen is known all over the world as a tourist center and a brand all by itself. The limitation to Italy is consequently adhered to, true to the saying “competence through limitation.“


Who shops with you?

Our target group is the demanding private customer. These customers don’t need to be Italophile gourmets or budding enologists, but rather customers who trust their tastes. Gastronomy and distributors are only marginally important in our business concept.

Source: Weindepot

Which products make it into your range of goods?

Generally, the products need to come from manageable and hand made production. The production methods have to be transparent and comprehensible. That is why we often select articles which are not usually available in the German-speaking market. The price-performance ratio also plays a decisive role: Many products from well-known Italian growing areas are utterly over-priced, and of course there also is an invisible downward border.


You don’t just want to sell things, but you also have a social agenda. What are your goals? Are you an idealist, dreamer and a do-gooder?

Basically, the money should get to where it is needed. This is first of all the winemaker or respectively the manufacturer of a product. The customer expects a tangible equivalent value for his or her money. If those two requirements are met, then you have made the world a little better, and afterward you can think about making money.


You also offer tasting and guided tours. How does this work? Does the expenditure of time pay off for your store?

Generally, many of our products can be tasted on-site. A lot of information is integrated into consultation. Small groups can participate spur-of-the-moment and without advance reservations, while larger events are done by reservation.


Do you also offer guided travel or travel tips?

We don’t offer guided travel, because we have to focus on the essentials in our work. Tips for travel or vacations are of course complimentary.


How long have you operated your Internet page and what stake does the online retail have in your business?

We have started in 1998 to also present our company on the Internet. Our Website www.gerardo.de is named after my father Gerhard Strunz by the way, who established the company. As time went by, we have revised our online appearance several times. Today we only introduce incremental small changes on the site anymore. The largest amount of work is done in the content. By now, the portion of the Internet business is an inherent factor of our daily business. The portion of sales has continuously increased from originally 15 to 50 percent today and the trend continues upwards.

Source: Weindepot

You purchase things in Italy yourself and not through wholesale dealers. Is that profitable with just one store? Why don’t you look for a partner for additional branches?

We buy almost 100 percent of our products directly in Italy, since we want to know where the items are coming from. It is a lot of effort, because we look very closely at the background before initiating any business deals. This makes the product procurement extremely complex, and yet we have developed a routine over the years. As a result of this large effort, a multiplication with partners is impossible. Besides, the idea of multiple stores does not fit into our concept.


The big guys in business plan their store design with a lot of technical and psychological sophistication. How did you design your store?

For our store extension and its features we were able to fall back on our own experiences over many decades. We have wonderful craftsmen, great intuition and taste and the will to realize things quickly.


And finally: Where should people travel to if they want to find a piece of authentic Italy?

You will not find an authentic Italy where there are multipliable, ready-made vacation concepts, because it all looks the same everywhere you go. However, you can find the real Italy more often than you would think at first – regardless whether that’s in Emilia-Romagna, in Lazio, Umbria or the Marches. Maybe the Abruzzi lends itself to the typical Italy. It doesn’t always have to be the seaside.


Interview: René Schellbach, InterCool.de

Further articles to the topic:

Further articles to the topic: - Internet guide for delicatessen stores
Further articles to the topic: - Interview: “The delicatessen segment at discount stores reaches larger social classes“