Esselunga S.p.A. is an important Italian retail store chain. Founded in 1957 by the Caprotti Family (in this case it was the 3 brothers Bernardo, Guido and Claudio) with Nelson Rockefeller, the company is now entirely owned by the Caprotti family through Supermarkets Italiani S.p.A.
It was the first supermarket chain in Italy and was the first to introduce on-line shopping and self-produced biological products.
With its 17,000 employees the company, had a ?.9 billion turnover in 2006. Esselunga controles about 9% of the Italian grocery distribution market.
Esselunga is entirely owned by the family and is not on the stock market. This fact, rare nowadays for a company of these dimensions, makes the chain even more particular.
It is ranked as the fourth most profitable company in the European retail sector (in proportion to its size) and it is Italy's 23rd largest company.