The success of the confectionary chain, the "Sicilian Cannoleria", which opens in Rome a new venue, the sixth to be exact, in Via Tiburtina dedicated to Sicilian street food.
Despite the adverse conditions caused by the pandemic, the brand launched ten years ago proceeds with the wind in its sails, conquering passionate customers from every district of the capital by focusing on quality and variety: cannoli rigorously produced with Sicilian sheep ricotta from the Agrigento pastures from the classic with candied fruit to the one with only chocolate flakes passing through the chopped hazelnut, pistachio, nutella and the possibility of making it to your liking. Obviously there is also a gluten-free cannolo recipe. A parent line which has also been joined by one, given the success of the initiative line of street food with the iconic Sicilian foods.
Behind this incredible success of a chain that goes against the trend and does not intend to give in to the difficulties of the moment, one imagines finding an entrepreneur with an assonant name that refers to the island's tradition, such as Messina, Rizzo, Grasso, Greco Pappalardo or Randazzo.
None of that the entrepreneur who brought her challenge on the square where for years real cathedrals of Sicilian confectionary pleasure have reigned such as Ciuri Ciuri, Nonna Vincenza's sweets, Mizzica, the Sicilian Swiss pastry shop in Piazza Pio XI, Dagnino, he's not even Sicilian, he's a Calabrian, it's called Yousef Sharafi, whose name suggests its origins, having been born yes in Calabria but from a father who moved to Italy from Palestine and he married a Calabrian woman.
Sharafi's entrepreneurial ability didn't come out of nowhere. graduated in Management Engineering at the University of Calabria, for three years, after his studies, it was business consultant at Accenture, the multinational company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, which operates in the business consultancy and outsourcing sector.
His life changed in 2010, when he took over a very small Sicilian pastry shop in the center of Rome. Applying the fruit of his management studies and the experience in Accenture to the production of Sicilian Cannoli was one thing, he studied a brand, organized promotion, rationalized production, studied the appropriate strategies and La Cannoleria Siciliana rose to the top by multiplying like wildfire of oil.
Some data to better understand the phenomenon: in the last year in its chain have been sold over 2 million and 200 thousand cannoli, in the six rooms already in operation and in the laboratory around 70 employees destined to grow because for Yousef Sharafi the results achieved are a starting point for other projects.
“Last year we centralized production in one large workshop, over 1000 square meters of creativity and taste - explains Sharafi - and 2021 should be the year in which we replicate the format also outside Rome, in other Italian cities, because our ambition and love for Made in Sicily products has no boundaries".
The format that has caught on goes from breakfast to after dinner. Here, in fact, that next to cannoli and cassatine there are the iconic products of Sicilian cuisinea: in the cafeteria Pasta alla Norma cannot be missing, just as in the rotisserie corner the arancino is the master in its various forms.
And, as has been said, the six clubs in Rome are just the beginning. Milan could be the next stop in an expected expansion into Italy.
Cannoleria Siciliana is ready to open up to new entrepreneurs who, with a view to a franchisee relationship, can manage a brand store supported in all respects by those who launched the brand and know its customers.
“We strongly believe in the format and in its replicability even abroad” says Sharafi, “after all, the cannolo is among the best-known Italian sweets in the world, second only in popularity to tiramisu. And a first international expansion project has already been launched: “we have just signed a master franchisee contract with a Filipino entrepreneur entrusting him with development on the Asian island”. And some say there is already a thought for London.
In short, if we talk about restarting, Cannoleria Siciliana has already left for some time.
