Cristiano Corsini - Riso Gallo

With 170 years of heritage and a presence in almost 80 countries, Riso Gallo has built its international growth on a clear principle: know what the brand stands for and stay disciplined in how it delivers that position. For Cristiano Corsini, Export Marketing Manager at Riso Gallo, sustainable growth comes from combining strong brand positioning with deep consumer understanding, relevant innovation and commercially focused execution.

In the UK, one of Riso Gallo’s largest international markets, the brand has established itself as “the master of risotto.” Rather than competing across every rice segment, it focused on Italian authenticity, specialist expertise and varieties such as Arborio and Carnaroli. That clarity helped the brand create a distinctive premium position in a market dominated by mainstream rice brands and private label.

Disciplined Positioning Creates Long-term Value

When Riso Gallo entered the UK market, most competitors focused on varieties such as basmati, jasmine and long-grain rice. Risotto offered a clear white space. The brand built its story around Italian rice, expertise and tradition, and avoided expanding too far beyond that territory. “What made the success was a disciplined approach, starting from a disciplined strategy,” Cristiano explains. “The brand was able to grow by leveraging authenticity, tradition and expertise that other brands were not able to offer.”

For Cristiano, consistency is essential. Channels, formats and consumer habits may change, but the brand’s core meaning should remain stable. “What doesn’t change is your brand positioning. You choose the right channel to expand and amplify your communication, but your positioning remains the pillar.” That positioning now provides a foundation for further growth. While risotto remains central, specialist varieties such as black and red rice allow Riso Gallo to recruit new consumers without moving too far from its expertise.

“The brand was able to grow by leveraging authenticity, tradition and expertise that other brands were not able to offer.”

Private Label cannot be Beaten on Price

Private label remains the brand’s biggest competitive threat, particularly in the UK. Retailers can offer similar products at lower prices, often following the formats and varieties already made successful by branded players. Cristiano is clear that competing on price is not a sustainable response. Premium brands must instead focus on what retailers cannot easily replicate: specialist knowledge, innovation and a deeper understanding of the category. “You cannot compete on price,” he says. “What pays off is focusing on what private label cannot replicate.”

A retailer has to manage hundreds of categories. A specialist brand can go further into consumer needs, preparation habits and emerging trends. For Riso Gallo, that expertise must be visible in the product, the communication and the value it brings to retailers. Retailers are also becoming more demanding. They increasingly expect suppliers to prove how a launch, promotion or activation will deliver incremental category growth rather than simply generate short-term volume.

“Promotion is one tool; it is not the end,” Cristiano explains. “You have to select the promotion that gives incremental growth and helps both the retailer and the brand grow in the long term.”

“Promotion is one tool; it is not the end. You have to select the promotion that gives incremental growth and helps both the retailer and the brand grow in the long term.”

Insights should Lead Innovation

Consumer and shopper understanding sits at the centre of Cristiano’s approach to marketing. “Everything starts from consumer understanding and shopper understanding,” he says. “If you don’t know how consumers and shoppers behave, you cannot know which levers to apply or how to execute them.”

Riso Gallo combines sales data, shopper panels, Google Trends, search behaviour and media metrics with qualitative insight. Foodservice is particularly valuable because new behaviours often appear in restaurants before they reach retail. Black rice, for example, first gained traction through foodservice, where chefs and consumers used it in salads, bowls and side dishes. Once demand became clearer, the brand gradually expanded its retail distribution. A similar approach is being taken with pink rice in France.

For Cristiano, this is how innovation should work: start with behaviour, not with a product idea. Foodservice helps the brand observe how people use a product, which dishes are gaining popularity and whether an emerging trend has mainstream potential.

“Everything starts from consumer understanding and shopper understanding. If you don’t know how consumers and shoppers behave, you cannot know which levers to apply or how to execute them.”

Growth requires Adapting to New Occasions and Channels

Lunch and dinner remain the main occasions for eating rice, but the way consumers fulfil those occasions has changed. Convenience has become a major driver, particularly in the UK, where microwave rice has transformed the category. Consumers still use rice as a side dish or as a meal base, but increasingly expect it to be quick and easy to prepare.

Health is also becoming more influential. Consumers are paying greater attention to ingredients and long-term wellbeing, while Cristiano sees GLP-1 medications as a potential disruptor because of their impact on appetite and food consumption. At the same time, traditional dishes such as risotto and paella retain cultural and emotional value. The opportunity is therefore to remain relevant across convenience, health and heritage rather than choosing only one.

The same principle applies to retail channels. Consumers shop differently on Amazon, supermarket websites, in superstores and in convenience stores. Amazon is more likely to serve a stock-up mission, while a convenience store may be used for an immediate meal. “It’s important to adapt to the different shopping missions,” Cristiano says. “The same shopper can behave completely differently depending on the channel.”

This has led Riso Gallo to invest more in online retail, including Amazon and sponsored search across major UK retailer websites. Digital visibility requires a different strategy from the physical shelf, with greater emphasis on keywords, search ranking and discoverability.

Technology should Strengthen Strategy

Cristiano expects retail media to become a more important growth lever, particularly for challenger and medium-sized brands. Retailers now offer formats ranging from sponsored search and digital banners to off-site campaigns using loyalty-card data. These tools can make activation more targeted and measurable, but brands still need to understand what each format is meant to achieve. Some activities support conversion, while others primarily build awareness.

AI will also help marketers work with the increasing volume of data. Cristiano sees clear potential in analysis, productivity and decision-making, but not in replacing strategic responsibility. “AI can help you become more efficient and effective,” he says. “But the creative guidelines and the strategy have to come from you.”

AI may also change how consumers discover brands through tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini. That will make the quality of a brand’s website, social content, media coverage and wider digital presence increasingly important. Yet the fundamentals remain the same.

Sustainable growth is not about chasing volume or adopting every new tool. It is about balancing volume, value and profitability while keeping every part of the marketing mix aligned. “Everything starts from the human,” Cristiano concludes. “You have to know your position, your goals and the pillars you want to leverage. Based on that, you choose the platforms, the media and the activations.”

“AI can help you become more efficient and effective, but the creative guidelines and the strategy have to come from you.”