G.A.L.A. Fruit

G.A.L.A. Fruit‘s story is one of the dogged pursuit of a far-sighted dream, a story of commitment, professionalism and business smarts and, ultimately, the fruit of the intuition and experience of its founder: Giuseppe Catalano.

In 1989, the thirty-eight-year-old father of four, Giuseppe, left his farming village in the Neapolitan hinterland where he was born and moved to the province of Milan with his family.
Giuseppe and Giuseppina, Antonio, Luigi and Luca, Adriano: the family’s initials became the acronym that would give the family business its name, G.a.l.a. Fruit.

Drawing on a wealth of experience gained in the fruit and vegetable trade, G.a.l.a. was soon operating successfully in Milan’s Fruit and Vegetable Market, specializing in the distribution of asparagus, strawberries and porcini (boletus edulis) mushrooms, which are still some of the company’s best sellers.

In 1994, Giuseppe’s eldest son, Antonio, joined the company.
Two of his brothers were quick to follow his lead in 1997: Luigi joining the sales force and Luca introducing a new range of products, namely cheeses and local products.
With these new assets, G.A.L.A. was able to extend its fruit and vegetable offerings, selling both Italian and imported produce.

Giuseppe died before his time, in 2008, at the age of 57.

The four Catalano brothers in a photo from the early ’80s.

In 2012, after around twenty years as middlemen with no fixed abode, during which time they “borrowed” space off other stall holders in Milan’s market, they finally got a place to call their own in Hall D, opening a stall under the G.A.L.A. banner and putting together a successful team of employees and freelancers and a network of regular major suppliers.

This is just the beginning of a success story. You can read the coming chapters here as we post the latest instalments online.