[:it]Covid19: Gabriele Rondani, Marketing and PR Director of Rinaldi 1957 speaks[:]

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Gabriele Rondani, Marketing and PR Director of Rinaldi 1957, tells how the company is dealing with the Covid19 epidemic and imagines what the best behaviors and strategies could be to get out of the crisis.

Gabriele, how is Rinaldi 1957 going through this historical period?

With sales channels almost closed, we are focusing more on training and communication. We are promoting a better understanding of our extensive catalog through online webinars, Facebook and Instagram live broadcasts held by our Advocacy Manager Walter Gosso, brand ambassadors Ilaria Bello and Marco Riccetti, and then directly by Paolo Vercellis and me. In addition, we have supported appeal campaigns to the Government by HoReCa entities such as Bartales, The Balance cocktail bar Savona, sponsoring posts on our social channels. As for our suppliers, Ramsbury gin has created a solidarity platform that allows donations to be made to bars, to be redeemed for drinks when it is possible to return to them. In addition, it promptly set up an internal production of hand sanitizers. Aviation donated 30% of online sales to bartenders, also because unfortunately the news coming from the United States is terrible and speaks of a category plagued by mass layoffs. Finally, Don Papa is supporting local craft projects in the Philippines and a number of volunteer associations around the world.

Many have compared this pandemic to a war. Do you agree?

Personally, no. During a war, those who stay at home are bombed, there is often a shortage of food, the first to die are children, there is a black market, you know where your enemy is and the only thing you can do to try to save your life is to run away. This is not a war, and I want to reiterate this out of respect for the people who have faced wars and are actually facing them. The only thing pandemics and wars have in common is that they will both end. Every coronavirus in the past has been defeated or lasted a limited period of time. This will be the same this time, and we must be convinced of this if we want to overcome the general anxiety that is characterizing the historical period we are living in. However, anxiety cannot be defeated alone, but together with others. Alone we are just leaves at the mercy of the wind, while together we are a tree, more or less strong depending on the weather. Let's think about it: in every tree, each winter that has passed is visible from the ring that forms on the trunk. Each winter, however, not each summer. This is because it is the difficulties that make us stronger. Today more than ever we must not linger in self-pity but remain united and think about how to start again. We too, like Rinaldi, are going through a period of great difficulty, but we have seen many winters since 1957, this will be no different.

So no to war, but is a ferment similar to that of the post-war period desirable?

Common sense, even now, must be that of a post-war period: we must be grateful for what we have, imagine the future, share the projects and joys of others and rediscover a sense of belonging that an individualistic society like ours has deprived us of. At Rinaldi we have not left our customers or sales agents alone for a single day, and we have not been left alone by our suppliers. I curse this virus, but I can only accept what happened and that something will change, both for the worse and for the better. The world before, sick as it was, could not continue to exist, just think of the deadlines that once seemed a matter of life or death and that have now completely lost their importance. Let it be clear that I do not want a world in which everything is at a standstill, but I would like to return to a better version of the world before.

As Rinaldi, what will you do to encourage reopening?

We will support bars during the reopening period by any means, as suppliers, friends and customers, perhaps with a mask and keeping our distance, but we will return. We will reopen in a favorable season to sit outside, where the risks of virus transmission are minimized. I can't wait to sit at a table in a bar and sip a good cocktail. And one thing must be clear to everyone: night bars must be compared to daytime bars, there is no reason to keep the former closed and the latter open.

How long do you think it will take?

It will still take a long time to fully recover, but who knows, maybe this will be useful: how many times have we complained about too many events, too many masterclasses and too many appointments? Before even understanding when we will recover, we need to realize what we really want, not forgetting that even from home it was possible to train, for example by attending seminars or reading, which allowed us to deepen our knowledge of the protagonists of the beverage universe.
In the world before it was not possible to slow down, because those who did were destined to be left behind. The virus in this sense has been quite democratic: it has forced all of us to slow down together and understand what it means to live in a completely different world. And everything has changed. Much of what previously seemed necessary has lost importance. So slowing down is possible if we all slow down together, but if you do it alone, no, you are seen as different, unproductive and society as it was before the epidemic swallows you up. Instead, sometimes those who go "slow" do it just to think more carefully about a project, and without answering emails and phone calls maybe come up with the idea of the century. Very few were able to take this time when things were going at full speed, let's see how it goes from now on.

How should we behave in this lockdown period?

First of all, as Italian citizens, I believe that we need to rethink our role in Europe. We are the second European manufacturing power, an incredible nation, the cradle of history, art, culture and traditions. But we must not shout it on social media, we must cultivate a sense of belonging and self-awareness of what we are and what we can do. So often instead we pit ourselves against each other, Italy against Europe, regions against regions, but then for what? We are Italians, we are Europeans, we are a large family that was certainly not born today, just think of how many people speak Romance languages. We Italians have already shown the world a Renaissance, and I am convinced that we will be able to show it another. We are the Nation of small shops, of local craftsmanship, of slow food, of small things. We are not the Nation of supermarkets. As much as I can, I am supporting small shops as much as possible and I certainly do not spend the day complaining on Facebook because there is a queue. We are in a difficult moment but it is only by starting from ourselves, rethinking our microcosm and breaking down the barriers that we will be able to get out of it.

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