Bernardo Caprotti was born in Milan in 1925. After obtaining a degree in Law, in 1951 he went to the USA to update himself on new managerial techniques that could benefit the family business upon his return. Back in Italy, he worked in the family manufacturing industry until he took over its management. In 1957, the Rockefeller group proposed to the Caprotti family to enter a joint venture in the emerging foundation of Supermarkets Italiani Spa: the future Esselunga. Subsequently, Bernardo Caprotti bought 51% of the company from Rockefeller.
In 1961, the first store was opened in Tuscany. He introduced the novelty of the "fidelity card" in supermarkets. In 2010, he received an honorary degree in architecture. Bernardo Caprotti died in Milan in 2016 at the age of 90.
This is a country that has too many rules, laws, and regulations: you can no longer move. In Italy, it is more difficult to do business than elsewhere; there are more rules, regulations, and planning.
Despite being born into a wealthy and comfortable Lombard family with centuries-old entrepreneurial traditions, Bernardo Caprotti decided to take a risk and in the 1950s went to America to apply his entrepreneurial spirit to large-scale distribution and give a positive turn to the family business. He is described as “cosmopolitan” and “polyglot” with “a human figure that appears uncertain and frail, but in reality has the structure of stone and the cult of doing and doing well.” He is also described as “a man of few words, cold; he only warms up to things that truly interest him. Like Esselunga, his greatest passion.” From his father and grandmother, he learned “the cult of freedom, independence, and a passion for visual arts, architecture, painting, graphics, and ossobuco made with a hint of anchovy.” He was married twice. He has two children from his first marriage: Giuseppe and Violetta, and one from the second: Marina Sylvia.
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