Bianchi, the fourth
generation
A Conversation with Giulio Bianchi
A few weeks ago, I sat here with your sons. They are now in the same situation you were in about 34 years ago
However, the situation today is a bit different. We are brothers; we come from the same home, the same culture. Dario and Luca are cousins; they grew up in different households—one more sports-oriented, the other more cultural. We both grew up with the exact same values because we had the same father. That is why we still understand each other instinctively today. Of course, we had our crises, but in business, we were always in agreement. When we had differences, they were always emotionally driven.
Did the pecking order from the nursery carry over?
Exactly. It is hard to explain precisely, but the whole emotional, family aspect always played a role somehow. But we were always able to resolve it.
Shortly after you took over the management of the family business, the move from Zurich to Zufikon took place. That was a significant moment. Was everything clear from the start?
At that time, I was on the board of the Zurich Old Town Association, so I got everything first-hand. I knew the plans of the builders to install bollards. Back then, „Schwellen-Ruedi“ (Aeschbacher) was on the city council, and I saw that the city was closing off more and more. We had to consider: what is actually our strategic success potential? We wanted to be the best logistics provider in Switzerland. We could not achieve that from Zurich. Here, we had space, we could build, and in terms of transport, Zufikon is ideally located to achieve this goal. We bought cars; we had 60 cars, then 70, then 80, and we continuously expanded our routes. The goal was to be able to supply all chains operating throughout Switzerland—Mövenpick still existed then, and Bindella was already there. And we always paid for all investments out of cash flow. Every vehicle, every construction phase—we never needed a bank for that.
As the 4th generation, you have restructured the company quite a bit compared to before. What has changed? And what are today’s challenges?
The administrative shackles imposed on us. It is quite brutal; I do not know where this is headed, and I do not know how our boys will deal with it one day. It is an incredible flood of ordinances and regulations. We have meetings with our ISO manager almost daily; he is now practically our most important man. Imagine, we have over 7,000 products, and you have to provide nearly 80 pieces of information for each product—you can do the math.
Well, the consumers‘ desire for transparency regarding food is legitimate, isn’t it?
People are much better informed today; they also have the means to be—YouTube, the internet in general—you can look at every farm. Consumers do it, journalists do it; everything is more transparent than ever before anyway. Two years ago, we started photographing every single product and listing all this information for each product in our web shop. This way, every customer can access any information on any product at any time. You have to do that today, but the additional effort is enormous.
Back to your father: what did he pass on to you?
Discipline. And social responsibility toward the staff. He was a patron; his employees were his family. He truly led by example, paying every salary personally and in cash. He supported everyone who had a problem; one had an alcohol problem, and our father helped him, went to his home, and looked after him.
When I talk to your people, they all say roughly the same thing: that Bianchi is a very family-oriented company.
We have many more people today. But it is still the case that we help our employees when they are in trouble. We have done everything: pre-financed apartments, bought cars, paid for divorces, language courses, further education, training—the whole program.
Are there things your father always told you that made you think, „What is the point of that?“
He was less of an entrepreneur than we are. He calculated and reckoned differently. He was often far too kind. But we learned „service.“ Today, that is certainly one of the most important pillars of our success, alongside logistics: service. There is no „no.“ If someone needs a red snapper on a Sunday, we deliver it, whether they are in Zurich, Gstaad, or the Engadine. That is something we also pass on to our boys.
It probably doesn’t necessarily pay off to drive to Gstaad for just one fish.
From a short-term perspective, perhaps not. But that customer is eternally grateful to us. And imagine what happens when we drive to the Palace in Gstaad on a Sunday; people see that, they see that we help our customers out of a bind. That is the kind of thing people talk about.
Do you see yourselves in your sons when they now take the same first steps in the company that you did? Uncertainty, impetuousness?
Yes, certain things. They are now also looking for areas that we haven’t covered so far. Digitalization, for example, is a big topic where they are very strong. They have already moved a lot there. And we are glad they are doing it. In turn, we can learn from them.
Was it always clear to you that you would join the family business? Was it somehow a given?
One day, our father called all four children together and said: „Well, children, I am either selling the business, or one of you takes it over.“ Our brother didn’t want to; he was already quite successful in the real estate industry. Our sister wanted to become a lawyer. I had just come from HSG and wanted to be a banker, wanted to go to New York with my buddies and conquer the world. Paolo said right away that he wanted to do it. But not alone. Since the other two didn’t want to, I thought, okay, we can do a trial period, a year or two, and then see.
Your decision to join back then was surely a risk as well.
That was an enormous risk for both of us, of course. But we always enjoyed working here. And we still do. Even today, I look forward to every Monday when the week starts again.
Do you apply the same standards to your boys as your father did to you?
On the one hand, we are strict. On the other hand, we give them a lot of freedom. But at the end of the day, they have to perform. It was the same for us. In that regard, we behave no differently than our father did toward us.
What do you think will be the biggest challenge your boys will have to face?
That will almost certainly be the transformation. When we started here, we had young people all around us. Just as we were. Most of us have stayed since then; they won’t stay forever. Our guard has been getting up at four in the morning for about 30 years now; at some point, enough is enough. It is important that the young generation builds a young team around them that can then grow with them. We will be around long enough to accompany this process, but the two of them have to do it themselves.