Sea, mountains, hills, cities. Driving around Italy offers a kaleidoscope of landscapes that we would hardly find traveling anywhere else in the world.In this combination of landscapes where history holds on to culture and nature as if in an embrace, there is a recurring element, a constant, a comforting symbol: the red and white logo of Autogrill.Calling them rest areas would be reductive; Autogrill are much more. They are a piece of Italy's history, a custom phenomenon able to deeply change some habits of Italians.With the advent of Autogrill ways of traveling and living rooted for years undergo a real metamorphosis. Perhaps it is also thanks to the Pavesi, Alemagna and Motta rest stops, equipped with bars, restaurants and stores and then merged into a single company - Autogrill precisely - that Italy has entered consumerism.It all started in 1947 from the intuition of industrialist Mario Pavesi to promote his new Pavesini cookies through a food court along the highway.Pavesi initially thought of placing a kiosk along the Turin-Milan highway, at the height of Novara not far from his factory.But it is a few years later, in the 1950s, that on the back of a trip to the United States, the businessman returns to Italy and commissions the architect Angelo Bianchetti to enlarge and modernize his simple refreshment point, transforming it into a real restaurant for drivers.
In 1959 he registered the neologism Auto-grill with the intention of fusing the American style of cooking with snacks, drinks and quick meals close to Italian sensibilities.The first signs that the gamble would be a winner came shortly thereafter: in 1954 Fiat, Eni, Italcementi and Pirelli submitted a project to the government to build the Milan-Naples highway.From here, Pavesi's decision to buy several lands adjacent to the highways, paying Anas a fee to connect its areas with the network.Pavesi is not the only one to invest in this field, however: Angelo Motta, owner of the food company of the same name, opens several spots along the highways, near service stations. Motta specializes in more sophisticated cuisine so much so that Motta's Autogrilles become so popular that people come to hold weddings inside.The third competitor then is Alemagna, another food company in Milan.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, these three companies competed for dominance in the highway food business and for the best service, design, innovations, and customer service.With the 1973 oil crisis, however, business changed: in 1977 the three companies that had been competitors until then joined forces under state control by merging into a giant corporation, Autogrill SpA.The new business model works and, thanks in part to the economic recovery and Italy's gaining fifth place among the world's richest countries, Autogrill S.p.A. becomes a turnover and profit machine.In 1995, the state sells off many of its assets to private entrepreneurs in the belief that opening up to the market can benefit the national economy.Autogrill is sold to the Benetton family with foresight since it is now the world's largest travel food service group, produces 70 percent of its turnover abroad, and, while it is true that the Autostrade is the historic channel, the brand can now be found everywhere: in airports, where the Group generates 50 percent of its turnover, in railway stations, and in cities across Europe and America.
Also in Lainate, but this time heading north, is instead the spectacular Autogrill Villoresi Est: a new concept, a roadside office with free wi-fi, electrical outlets for charging PCs and cell phones near the seats. Not only that, Villoresi Est is also design and ecology: the shape of the structure evokes that of a volcano and rises up to 27.5 meters. The building occupies an area of about 2,500 square meters and its skeleton is made of 100 percent PEFC-certified wood, meaning it comes from sustainably managed forests.Again, from the asphalt paving to the roofing, Villoresi East is built with materials with low environmental impact. There is also no shortage of charging stations for electric cars while architectural barriers have been completely eliminated and the stores it contains range from bookstores to electronics, bars to restaurants.
Each of us has a memory connected to the Autogrill: whether it is a coffee at night or the departure of a vacation with friends, or a dinner after a long journey to the sea.The Autogrill represents the glue that united Italy and Italians after World War II, from North to South and East to West. From the highways of Piedmont to airports around the world, Autogrill has shaped itself over seventy years by globally exporting the Italian way of life.
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