"Nothing is worse than wasted talent," says Robert De Niro in "The Bronx." A phrase that could be applied to many beautiful Italian companies that have changed hands in recent years, indeed, from hand to hand without finding the old enamel. This is the case of Mandarina Duck, creature of the cousins Paolo Trento and Pietro Mannato who in '77 founded the leather goods company inspired by the ducks seen on their travels in China, colorful and travellers.
For some years, however, Mandarina has stopped flying, especially in her hometown, Bologna, or rather Cadriano (municipality of Granarolo), where the historic plant is located that the current owners, the Koreans of E-Land would like to sell, empty and then migrate. E-Land is a giant with a turnover of five billion euros, active on the Asian markets in the fashion and entertainment distribution sector, which has gone shopping in the boot in recent years by putting in its portfolio some beautiful Made in Italy brands, from Coccinelle (of Parma), in Mandarina, from Belfe, to the Lario group.
For now, the worst has been averted in Cadriano, in the sense that an agreement has been signed that satisfies everyone. The agreement provides for "the maintenance of the activity on the provincial territory - reads a note - the safeguarding of most of the jobs, the reduction of the redundancies from 22 to 17 and the use of all the conservative social shock absorbers available for the majority time possible, in addition to a union mobility agreement". Better than nothing, especially since the agreement guarantees the permanence of the activity in the area "also in relation to the current presence of other companies of the E-Land group (E-Land Italy and Lario), of the administration, finance and control , customer service, operations, information technology, human resources and other staff services”. The workers promote the decision: "the maintenance of a site in the province of Bologna where a service center will be set up as part of an industrial plan consistent with the investments and integrated with the other Italian factories of the brand was positively evaluated". In any case, ten employees will leave for Milan, where a "Style" department will be set up, 17 will go home and "for the prospects - continues the note - the investments and managerial skills that will be put in place remain decisive". And this seems to be the weak point of the whole issue since, in 2008, Paolo Trento decided to leave the scene and his creature passed to Mariella Burani and soon ended up in the cauldron of bankruptcy, so in 2011 it landed in Korean hands .
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the glories of the 2000s, when turnover soared close to 200 billion lire and employees were over 150 in Bologna, even more since the 80s, when Mandarina explored ante litteram "tech" fabrics, or launched a cult backpack like Utility, the dream of every barefoot of the time. Turnover, according to the Bolognese newspapers, has done nothing but decline in recent years: from 40 million in 2011 to 32 million in 2012 and an estimated 21 million in 2013. Mandarina's innovative drive, her ability to be practical and beautiful, to be fashionable, seems to have gone astray. For the union, which has fought hard in recent weeks, the current landing point is the result of the "management incapacity" on the part of the new owner, "with the consequent loss of the initial investment", which was to serve to relaunch the brand with a retail project in Asia, and which "has only resulted in the opening of six stores in China in two years". Yet Mandarina's employees, those who have seen it fly high and proud, are convinced that the brand keeps its appeal intact. “We have survived even if in a few years we have changed two managing directors and I don't know how many directors – says an employee – while the stylists have dropped from 5 to one”. In short, perhaps it is enough to believe it, because nothing is worse than wasted talent.
