Our 2018 La Festa Italia tour group was lucky enough to spend two days and three nights with Smeg – the renowned Italian appliance designer and manufacturer. We left our hotel in Como early on Sunday morning and made a stop at the Fidenza designer outlet for some retail therapy before heading over to Parma and checking into our hotel.
That night we enjoyed a special dinner with our Smeg hosts – Emer Zavaroni, Smeg’s export manager, and Steve Nesbitt, State Sales Manager Retail/ACT from Smeg Australia.
The following morning we boarded the bus to visit Smeg’s head office and showroom, based in Guastalla which is in the Emilia Romagna part of Italy. Emilia Romagna is known as the “food valley” of Italy and it is the perfect location for this family-owned company that places such importance on hospitality and cooking.
Smeg’s head office is an incredible building that was designed by architect Guido Canalli who is also responsible for Smeg’s Classic range. It encompasses office space, a two-storey showroom and is filled with iconic artworks and is surrounded by a still water lake. In the auditorium, we enjoyed a presentation by Mr Zavaroni and learnt that this year Smeg is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
Smeg was first introduced as a brand to Australia in 1971 as Dishlex/Smeg with its Niagara oven. In 1989 we saw the start of the “real” Smeg in Australia, in partnership with Omega, with the company’s introduction of the first stainless steel ovens designed by Guido Canali. The same knob and handle is still used today on this range.
After a short coffee break and a chance to look around the showroom, we enjoyed a presentation on Smeg’s range of small appliances – both the current range as well as a sneak peek into some of the new appliances that will be introduced later this year.
The Smeg SDA (small domestic appliance) range now makes up 10% of Smeg’s overall business and all products are designed in partnership with DeepDesign. World-wide there is one Smeg SDA product sold ever 46 seconds – that amounts to approximately 668,000 products sold every year.
In addition, we were able to see the Smeg Dolce & Gabbana SDA range up close – these products were not able to be displayed at Salone del Mobile.Milano as the show is only for built-in appliances.
Following this presentation, we were again introduced to Smeg’s incredible hospitality with a gastronomic lunch before boarding the bus for a trip to the Montecoppe cheese factory. Montecoppe is owned by the Bertazzoni family which also owns Smeg and creates hand-crafted Parmigiano Reggiano, made according to ancient tradition.
We toured the production facility then enjoyed tasting cheese, meat and beer samples before being each given two blocks of this incredible Italian cheese, a jar of local mustard and a bottle of local balsamic vinegar to take home and enjoy.
No-one felt they could fit in any more food, yet we did, with a sumptuous dinner at a local seafood restaurant. As we headed to bed – well fed and watered – we couldn’t wait to see what treats were in store for us the next day.
For more information visit smeg.com.au
