Every traveller knows how miserable airports can be, between the lousy food and wine, and the high prices. Fortunately, some airports are now making more of an effort, not least of which are Fiumicino Airport in Rome and Malpensa Airport in Milan, which feature Ferrari Spazio Bollicine wine bars. Decked out in the striking black and white colours of the Ferrari brand, they are places where passengers can enjoy fresh, light, chef-prepared food plus a glass of Ferrari wine.
Ferrari CEO Matteo Lunelli says the idea came to him after he met entrepreneurs from Italian fashion and design and realised how important the idea of the flagship store was for those sectors. “I also thought that communicating the brand near to where the wine is consumed would be a great opportunity,” he adds.
The initial wine bar was opened with a partner in the luxury ski resort of Madonna di Campiglio in Trentino, near the birthplace of Ferrari. Lunelli and his partner realised they’d hit on a good idea and decided to replicate the experience elsewhere. But it was clear they couldn’t open a Ferrari bar in any city where Ferrari wines were served on restaurant menus, or sold in retail, because they would be competing with clients. “An airport is a unique place, because you have high-profile customers, a lot of traffic, and wealthy people that sometimes have a lot of time to spend,” he says.
When an opportunity to rent space in Rome’s Fiumicino Airport came, they took it. “We thought it would be a great opportunity to develop the first high-end bar in an airport, bringing the knowledge of our chef and the whole Italian lifestyle concept together,” explains Lunelli. The partners commissioned Milan’s Robilant & Associati design company to create the space, requiring that everything in the fit-out was Italian.
“We asked our Michelin-star chef to create simple food that would represent different regions of Italy, and really worked on getting the best meat from Piedmont, the best ham from Parma, the best mozzarella from Campania. Simple dishes, but very high quality, matched with Ferrari wines.”
The next step was to train staff. “They need to be ambassadors of the brand,” says Lunelli.
After the success of their Fiumicino bar, Ferrari were asked to open in Milan. Lunelli says that because airports are increasingly looking to improve their food and wine offerings, there will be more such opportunities in the future. He warns, however, that working with airports isn’t easy. “Even if I just want to visit my bar, I have to go through security,” he says. “You never have enough space, so you must have a very well-organised team.” To help with logistics, Ferrari partnered with Elior Group, experts in travel catering. “Another challenge of airports is that it’s very expensive,” says Lunelli.
Then there was the problem of coming to grips with retail. “We know how to make wine, but it took twelve years to develop the concept because we are not a retail company and we had no people dedicated to it. Now we have a retail manager,” he says.
The upside is that Ferrari has 200,000 customers a year visiting the bars and trying the wines. “For me, it’s a great way to communicate and educate.” So much so, that Lunelli says the company is now looking at opportunities at airports outside Italy.
