“Indians are conventional and traditional“… Coffee with Mauro di Molfetta

He is a true marketing man.

Three years ago, I walked into Mauro´s office in Milan to propose a buyers´ delegation to MIPEL which is the oldest and one of the most well-known, biannual international Leathergoods Exhibiton in the world. An hour later, I walked out of his office considering his proposal of selling space and a month later we signed the contract. He managed to convince me to do something completely different from what I had earlier proposed and wanted to do! That says a lot for his selling skills.

After COVID had taken the world in its grip, I decided to revive the ´´India in your mind´´ series and the first guest of the revived Coffee with MG edition is Mauro who was biding the COVID time in his country home in Como (drinking apertifs by the lake…sigh…how wonderful and sublime!)

Born and brought up in Milan, he walks the talk of ´´Made in Italy´´ and he has been part of the fashion and leather industry all his working life of 30 years (Psst…I was surprised when he told me that he is 54…his looks belie his age). Perhaps his hikes in the woods or swimming or his lovely wife or the whole combination are responsible for his younger-than-his-age looks. Speaking of his wife, he met her at a friend´s birthday party fifteen years ago and six months later, they were married! She is a homeopath doctor who delves in Ayurveda for which she frequently visits India. His Indian connection besides the business people he meets regularly in MIPEL, goes deeper. One of his closest friends is from India. However, even though he knows some facts, stories and contradictions about India, he was still shocked when he saw ´´poor people walking the roads at any hour of day or night´´  during his short maiden trip to  India. He was in Kolkata just for a few days for a curated presentation as part of our joint business plan for MIPEL in 2019.

During his visit, he found it ´´strange to see beautiful buildings in terrible conditions´´. It was a short stay, he claims, too short to digest a colloidal mass of impressions that India is…but he avers that feelings, failings and strengths of human beings are the same all over the world…be it Italy or India.

The Indian economy has been growing since many years, he believes “but the problem is that the development of the economy must be accompanied by an increase in social welfare equity´´ which he obviously does not see in India. He is convinced that economic growth must be based on sustainable politics in order to spare natural resources and to preserve the planet for future generations.

“Decision making processes are slower and more complicated than in other countries that I have dealt with”, he said when I quizzed him on his perception of the ease of doing business in India. He believes in the strong potential of India and feels that there is a young genius generation in different lines of businesses there.

“I have a lot of impressions and images from the short visit and the common element in all these impressions is the strong energy that I feel in the people”, he says excitedly.

When I asked him about any Indian brands he knew in Europe, “Tata”, he replied affirming the global presence of this iconic Indian company. Mauro is not the first European who knows only the brand of Tata…most people I interact with in Europe think really hard and come up with that name as well. That says a lot about the lack of internationalization of other Indian brands even though many Indian companies make quality goods and churn out the luxury lines of international luxury brands.

What surprised me was his perception of lack of a substantial middle class in India. In his opinion, the idea held by many in Italy is that India is home to the rich and the poor…they seem to be unaware of the large middle-class population which is over 350 million and which has actually fuelled a large part of the retail and economic growth in India.

“I think Indians are conventional and traditional”, he mentioned which is interesting considering that India is quietly going through an age of disruption, some of which is known more to the Indians than to the western part of the hemisphere, even though global Indians dot many parts of the world.

Mauro´s perceptions, once again bring out the fact that many changing facets of India are not known in Europe. However, he had a glimpse of the best of what India has to offer, hospitality!

“My idea that India is a country of contrasts was strengthened after my short visit” he said and with that I bid you Adieu my friend, till the next time in Milan!