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.
Esselunga has owned 50% of the Italian "branch" of Penny Market (a REWE group company).
Rumors recently claimed that the group had been acquired, possibly by Tesco or Wal-mart. Breaking the silence, the 82 year old president Bernardo Caprotti has said he absolutely isn't planning to die and for this reason he does not plan to sell his jewel at all.
Esselunga S.p.A（SPA系意大利语societa per azioni之缩略称谓，指（共同）股份公司，许多意大利公司以此结尾）在意大利是龙头食品连锁店，于1957年由Caprotti家族3兄弟（ Bernardo, Guido and Claudio）及Nelson Rockefeller建立，公司为Caprotti 家族持有所有股份。