Muslims Like Their Wine Diferente (Italians, on the Other Hand, Are Always the Same!)

If you think selling ice to Eskimos can be tricky, then you haven't tried selling alcohol to practicing Muslims yet! No, this isn't a bad joke and there's no spelling mistake in the title!

Diferente is a startup founded in the Treviso area, land of prosecco, by Manuela and Filippo Zanin, members of the family that owns the well-known brand Mionetto, and co-founder Attorney Francesco Elia.

A well-shaken reality of experienced people: Manuela worked as a consultant for PlaTeame within the family business Mionetto, handling marketing; Filippo has experience in the world of semi-finished products for artisan gelato shops and ten years as a buyer for Mionetto; Francesco Elia is a legal expert managing the patent protection.

Their startup was incubated by Speed Mi Up, the business accelerator of Bocconi University in Milan, and is now ready to launch a sparkling wine and a gin vodka without alcohol, with the goal of "breaking into" the Arab market.

The Zanins' intention is to attempt a faithful reproduction of the organoleptic characteristics, and that is what they believe they have achieved with the 100,000 bottles produced. Francesco Elia, co-founder of the startup, openly states that the project was born to meet the needs of those who, for religious or health reasons, cannot drink alcohol; indeed, 40% of the world's population is teetotal for social, health, religious, or work-related reasons.

Fundamental to the company's founding was a request from a client asking for "de-alcoholized" beverages. Elia describes it as an "innovative aspect," and the difference lies in the fact that, unlike other producers, at Diferente, alcohol is never processed in the first place (others would produce alcoholic beverages from which the alcohol component is subsequently extracted).

After the Arab market, the Australian and North European markets, the goal will be to find new investors and set sights on North America.

I'll close with a thought: how much does a family that owns a company like Mionetto actually need a startup accelerator? How much, instead, did having the right "network" facilitate their entry into this project and their obtaining the support of Bocconi? What use is an accelerator to people who, beyond financial means, have the kind of experience that gives them such deep knowledge of the market? Same old Italian story…