Entrepreneur and philanthropist
Violetta Maria Luisa Caprotti
“I want to be quiet in awareness
of being able to do good”.
Violetta Caprotti
Origin and training
Born in Milan in 1962, she is the daughter of Bernardo Caprotti, the historic founder of Esselunga supermarkets, and Giorgina Venosta. Her maternal grandfather, Guido Venosta, was a founder of the Italian Cancer Research Association (Airc). Through the Association, he made a major contribution to raising funds for cancer research, appointing Umberto Veronesi as the figurehead in the fight against cancer and sharing international scientific knowledge.
His invaluable work was recognised further when a street was named after him in Milan.
Violetta Caprotti studied at the Institut Français Le Rosey in Rolle, on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. She graduated with first-class honours in Economics and Business from Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan, in 1986, writing her thesis on stock-market listings for family-owned businesses.
She speaks Italian, English, French and Spanish.
On completing her studies, she embarked on her career at Banca Euromobiliare.
Her experience
at Esselunga
Violetta Caprotti later made her debut in Esselunga, the large-scale retail giant founded in Milan in 1957 by her father Bernardo alongside Guido and Claudio Caprotti, Marco Brunelli and Nelson Rockefeller. She remained there for over 10 years, starting out in basic roles before gradually progressing through different sectors and transversal projects. From the outset she was interested in food products, managing marketing aspects for the supermarkets; alongside her brother, Giuseppe, she moved into the non-food sector, including homeware, books, newspapers and hosiery, products which had never been sold in Italian supermarkets before. She then began studying how to position these items on the shelves, based on their sales performance.
Following a period in property development for new retail spaces and supermarkets, Violetta Caprotti began working her way up in Communications and Marketing. Leading a team of 30 people, she focused on packaging design for private labels and developing advertising and promotional campaigns. She reinvented the Group’s entire communication strategy, launching famous ad campaigns by Armando Testa such as “Topolino Rapanello”, the most memorable and winner of several prizes, “Libellule”, “Piselli” and many more.
Understanding the vital importance of customer loyalty, Violetta Caprotti invented the “Carta Fidaty” loyalty card, enabling customers to collect points, receive prizes and enjoy discounts, which at the time drove 95% of Esselunga’s turnover. She oversaw the project by herself, with just one other staff member. It involved launching IT set-ups, communicating with customers, creating the promotional programme, managing the card at retail stores and involving suppliers of the calibre of Procter&Gamble, Coca Cola and Johnson&Johnson, amongst others.
Following years of intense work commitments, Violetta Caprotti left her operational role at Esselunga while maintaining her position on the Board of Directors. She embarked on a new chapter in her personal and professional life in New York, working in the art sector for 10 years.
Alongside her team of financiers, tax experts, communicators and lawyers, Violetta Caprotti manages her property and financial portfolio.
