Process digitalization
A map of processes and information flows, reconciliations done by hand turned into rules, the existing systems integrated, and the people trained to run them.
Go to Process digitalization →
Food manufacturing · Food retail · Retail
Strategic and operational consulting for food companies
We think like entrepreneurs. We act like managers.
Strategy
AC Retail Advisory works alongside owners, CEOs and management of food manufacturing, food retail and organized foodservice companies on decisions of growth and organization, and stays alongside them until those decisions turn into results.
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About us
Strategic and operational consulting dedicated to food
AC Retail Advisory was founded in 2024 out of the direct experience of someone who has led food companies carrying full responsibility for the P&L: twenty years across food manufacturing, organized commercial foodservice and retail, in Italy and across Europe, starting out running restaurants as Restaurant Manager at Fratelli La Bufala.
We work with owners, chief executives and general managers on decisions of growth, of structure and of capital allocation. Every recommendation comes with the economic analysis that supports it and with its assumptions stated, according to the ACRA Method™.
About us →The sectors we work with
Food manufacturing
Manufacturing and processing companies supplying modern grocery retail, the Ho.Re.Ca. channel and traditional trade, including established startups that want to grow and get organized.
Restaurants and food retail
From the owner of a single restaurant to chains and groups in commercial foodservice, franchise formats included, and food startups already trading that want to grow and get organized.
What we do
Areas of expertise
Strategy and growth
We work with companies on strategy and the industrial plan, on growth and scaling decisions, and on how capital is allocated.
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Operations and organization
We industrialize the format and build the organization that holds as the business grows: network standards, productivity, roles and responsibilities.
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Management control and margin
We build the control system and the reporting senior leadership decides on, and we measure margin by outlet, channel and SKU down to break-even.
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Business development
We build the economics of each channel — modern grocery, Ho.Re.Ca., traditional trade, franchising — the price architecture, and the structure of the sales organization.
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Manufacturing operations
We work on production capacity, yields and mix, on rebuilding the processing cost per SKU, and on the make-or-buy decision.
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Cross-cutting enablers
The five areas describe where we work; the cross-cutting enablers describe how we make the model more governable and replicable.
Training and leadership development
Growth rests on the people who lead it. We train the management roles and develop the leadership of those responsible for outlets, departments and teams: the move from operator to manager, reading the numbers of their own unit, running meetings and one-to-ones.
Go to Training and leadership development →«Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs.
It means deliberately choosing to be different.»
Michael Porter
Skills and experience
300sites opened
in twenty years
in twenty years
6European countries
covered
covered
200 mlneuro of revenue
under management
under management
Double digitthe results achieved
in sales
in sales
Clients
Companies that chose our experience
Food startups in a scaling phase and large restaurant and retail brands, supported through their growth path.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Owners, chief executives and general managers of food businesses: from a single restaurant to a chain, up to an established food manufacturer, including food startups already trading that want to grow and get organized.
AC Retail Advisory works alongside owners and senior leadership on decisions of capital allocation and structure. The decision stays with the company; the work brings the economic proof behind it.
The client is the company that sells to grocery retail. The channel is read from its point of view.
The people leading the engagements have carried direct responsibility for the P&L of food companies and chains for years, from running restaurants to leading a subsidiary as its chief executive. They speak as peers with the people who decide.
With all of them: restaurants with one or more sites, food startups already trading that want to grow and get organized, and companies that are already structured. The support is calibrated on the stage and the objectives of the company.
Food retail, food manufacturing and organized commercial foodservice, in Italy and across Europe. It is our only field, and it is where twenty years of experience make the difference.
Four steps: a framing conversation with no commitment, a proposal with scope and deliverables, the engagement with a mid-point review, and delivery with the recommendation and the tools that stay with the company.
No. We operate in Italy and across Europe, with direct international experience built leading food groups in several countries.
It depends on the scope and on the state of the data. The duration is set in the proposal, together with the deliverables. The first step can be the ACRA Diagnosis: five working days over three or four weeks.
Contact
The first step is a conversation
A conversation about the situation in front of you, to see whether there is room to act and how deep it goes. A description of the problem is enough.
Let’s talk →Office+39 02 38267041
Mobile+39 327 038 4937
AddressVia Donati, 9 — 21047 Saronno (VA)
LinkedInAndrea Calistri
Foodtech · Energy SaaS — AC Retail Advisory client · Maia Ventures portfolio
Sintropy.ai
From the business plan to the round: structuring the business model of an energy-tech startup for foodservice.
The context
Five engineers from Cliniche Sant'Agostino develop an integrated solution — proprietary hardware and a SaaS platform — to reduce energy consumption in commercial foodservice and retail. With a fund already at the table, the company had to face the step from technology project to structured business.
Our work
Engagement from Maia Ventures, since February 2026. Construction of the pre-round business plan with explicit assumptions, unit economics and scenarios. Definition of the pricing architecture and the business model of the energy efficiency software. Ongoing work alongside the owners with weekly meetings, strategic support to the sales department, and support to the founding team on organizational structure.
The results
Let’s talk
Business plan approved and round closed. Business model and pricing structure defined and adopted. Working alongside is still ongoing.
Food manufacturing · Fifth-range vegetables — AC Retail Advisory client · Maia Ventures portfolio
Cappellini — Laboratorio Vegetale
From the business plan to the sales network: working alongside the owners on commercial and organizational structure.
The context
A spin-off of a long-established company in Mariano Comense with more than a hundred years in vegetables, founded by siblings Luca and Francesca: fifth-range vegetable production with low-temperature cooking, two brands — Cappellini and CBT, the second built for grocery retail — active in foodservice and normal trade, with entry into grocery retail just started.
Our work
Engagement from Maia Ventures to build the 2026 business plan; after three months the owners extended the mandate to ongoing advisory, with weekly working alongside. Definition of the sales business model for the grocery retail channel. Structuring of the agent network for foodservice and normal trade. Strategic setup of marketing and branding for the CBT brand. Support on organizational structure.
The results
Let’s talk
2026 business plan approved. Management control and margin system built for Cappellini and CBT. Organization chart restructured with the addition of a production director. 2026 commercial plans defined across every channel and presented at the first agent meeting.
Foodservice · Franchising — 2015 project
Old Wild West
The new franchise operating manual for one of the largest restaurant chains in Italy.
The context
One of the largest themed restaurant chains in Italy, with more than 300 outlets and expansion under way abroad, France included. A network of that scale needs a format that is repeatable and under control in every unit, company-owned or franchised.
Our work
Engagement from the parent company in 2015 to build the new franchise operating manual. Six months working alongside the HR, Finance and Operations teams to build the network's new operating model: procedures, documented standards and control tools to hold consistency and quality across the whole chain.
The results
Let’s talk
The operating manual is still in use today across the network, in its updated versions: the operating standard on which the chain has continued its expansion in Italy and abroad.
Foodservice · Format — 2015 project
Doppio Malto
At the birth of the format: from the first site at Scalo Milano to a chain that leads its market today.
The context
In 2015 the brewpub-restaurant format was at the start of its path: the project was the creation of the first site at Scalo Milano, the test bed for a repeatable model.
Our work
Involvement in the creation of the format from the proof of concept on: structuring purchasing, setting up logistics, writing the operating manual, and working alongside the owners on the format itself.
The results
Let’s talk
The format held up at scale: today the company is market leader with 60 outlets, grown on the operating model built in that phase.
Food · Retail — 2015 project
Fiorital
The first sushi and ready-meal format of a European seafood leader, from idea to opening.
The context
A market leader in seafood processing, based in Venice and already at around 400 million in revenue in 2015, decided to bring its product into a new form of consumption: a direct retail format of sushi and ready meals.
Our work
A six-month project with advisory over the whole path: creation of the model and the format — the first sushi and ready-meal shop in the Fiorital world — working directly alongside the owners, Alessia and Manuel Fiorotto, at every stage, from the idea to execution, up to the opening inside the Coop store at Centro Sarca in Milan.
The results
Let’s talk
First site opened in 2015, then ten sites opened with Coop: the model, the format and the operating tools to replicate it.
Food · Retail — 2017 project
Madeo
The Calabrian Black Pig corner inside the largest food park in the world.
The context
Madeo, national market leader for the Calabrian Black Pig and a producer of cured meats, decided to bring its brand into the FICO project in Bologna with a kiosk built together with Savigni: Savigni butchery and Madeo cured meats under a single deli & restaurant corner.
Our work
Engagement directly from the owners, Anna Madeo with Nicolò Savigni. Working alongside the other project partners: creation of the concept, menu development, staff training, and the operating manual for the corner.
The results
Let’s talk
Calabrian Black Pig corner opened at FICO Bologna in 2017, with concept, menu and operating manual handed over to the company.
Foodservice · Format — 2016 project
Sushi Take
Recipes, business model and development plan for a chain of sushi kiosks across Spain and Italy.
The context
A chain of sushi kiosks inside grocery retail — in the Coop world — with owners in Spain and a growth project across two markets: consolidating the model in Spain and developing it in Italy.
Our work
A 2016 project run directly in Spain, alongside the owners: creation of the new recipes, work on the business model of the kiosks in Spain and Italy, and construction of the development project for the Italian market.
The results
Let’s talk
Format defined: recipe book renewed, kiosk business model consolidated, and the development plan for Italy handed to the owners.
Entertainment · Food & Beverage — 2016 project
UCI Cinemas
The new food area of the UCI Luxe cinemas: gourmet formats inside the cinema experience.
The context
UCI Cinemas, part of Odeon Cinemas Group (AMC group), the leading cinema circuit in Europe, with more than 30 multiplexes in Italy. With the launch of the UCI Luxe cinemas it decided to move beyond the classic confectionery model and build a real foodservice area.
Our work
A 2016 project, working alongside the retail leadership: creation of the entire new food area for the UCI Luxe openings in Campi Bisenzio and Orio al Serio, with the development of the gourmet hot dog and gourmet pizza formats and of Backstage, the international-style coffee bar at UCI Luxe Orio al Serio.
The results
Let’s talk
Food areas opened in Campi Bisenzio and Orio al Serio with the new formats fully running.
