Business-to-Business (B2B) is the buzz word among small and medium-sized enterprises that produce high-quality Italian foods and wine, said Alessandro Cucchi, a partner with consultants McKinsey and Co. "B2B online is exploding in Italy," he said. "For small and medium-sized companies that have excellent products, but don't have a famous brand name, B2B is a gateway to new markets." The Italian Trade Commission has created a Website, that promotes Italian wines, cheeses, prosciutto and confectionery, food products springing from a world-famous tradition, that are now consumed and appreciated in every part of the world.

A visit to the Website (italianmade.com), reveals a historical briefing on renowned Italian produce such as Parma and San Daniele ham, Parmesan cheese and a variety of wines, such as Chianti, Frascati and Montepulciano. Some Parma ham producers are building their own sites to sell online to buyers around the world, said Paolo Tramelli, spokesman for the Parma Ham Consortium.

Cucchi said that B2B offered great opportunities for the fragmented Italian food and wine industry to find new markets. "Small and medium-sized companies need to form consortia and set up an Internet site that people will want to visit," Cucchi said. "The idea is to create a meeting point for supply and demand, by promoting the site to big foreign retailers, such as Sainsbury and Tesco." Nestle Italia and Groupe Danone are already buying supplies online in a project called (CPGmarket.com). Milan-based Nestle Italia is a leading pasta producer, marketing brands such as Buitoni and Pezzullo around the world. Turnover in B2B across all sectors in Italy, including agri-food, was forecast to surge to $11.51 billion in 2000 from $1.4 billion in 1999, Cucchi said.

Agri-food accounted for a tiny proportion of B2B in Italy so far. Business International, an economic research company, has estimated B2B online revenues in Italy's food and wine industry at 2.0 billion Lire ($988,200) in 1999, up from 0.9 billion in 1998.

-- Reuters