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Last week in Rome, I met Stefano Paciotti and his family at their fabulous gourmet food shop in Rome, located close to Vatican City. I was eager to learn how Stefano used Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to build fans and transform a small family business into an international success story.
Stefano’s father started the business in 1970 and still works behind the counter. In the early days, it was a small local shop that sold everyday goods to people in the neighborhood. When Stefano was old enough to join the business 44 years ago, he steered the shop away from things like paper goods and cleaning supplies to focus only on high end meat, cheese, olive oil, wine, and related products.
Then, about a decade ago, Stefano took to social media, creating compelling and sometimes hilarious videos. His Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok took off, building hundreds of thousands of fans in Rome and around the world.
People come into the shop every day who know him from his videos and they ship to customers worldwide. While I was there, another fan came in to buy their shop-made chocolate covered Gorgonzola (Yes, really, and it’s great). While there, the fan shot a quick video for her social media, which I, of course, also filmed and posted to my Instagram.
The Swine Chapel
In many of the videos, Stefano refers to Cappella Suina, which translates to “Swine Chapel”, a play on the nearby Sistine Chapel. In fact, one day the shop received a call from “Francis” who was looking to buy some prosciutto. After a bit of back and forth, they realized it was Pope Francis on the line! They ended up selling products to him and receiving a handwritten letter in return.
“I am the front man,” Stefano told me via Adriana D’Arpino, my interpreter. “I follow my instinct for how to make the videos. The most important thing with social media is to be sincere and honest. If your character is fake, people will know.”
The videos are in Italian but with English subtitles and Stefano says that about 50 percent of customers are from outside Italy. Prior to his social media posts, they had almost no international customers. Many fans come to the shop after visiting the Vatican and then have their purchases send to their home. “It’s a big achievement for us to sell all over the world,” he says.
For many visitors who are Stefano fans, going to the shop is seeing the real Italy after visiting the major tourist attractions. And many people want a photo with him.
“I must love the product first and I focus on quality,” he says. “When I take a ham in my hands, it’s like holding a beautiful woman. I’m always respectful of the animal who gave its life for us.”
The day after I met Stefano, he went to the British Embassy to cut and serve ham on the occasion of Kings Charles’ birthday. There were 2,000 people there.
“I know I am successful on social media because when I post a video for a product, in the coming days, that will be the most sold product,” Stefano says. “I have no idea what video will get a lot of views, it’s always surprise to me. I realize that when I don’t plan the video, that it often does better because the product is the star.”
Stefano and his family have avoided opening other shops, franchising the business, or establishing significant partnerships despite having had many opportunities to do so. “Having a bigger shop would be like having a larger house but without the familiar smell,” he says. “I have the freedom to say no to partnerships.”
While I was there, Stefano made me the most delicious prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich!
Thank you to my friend Nello Acampora from Hi-Performance, a popular event producer, for introducing me to Stefano. And thank you Nello for bringing me to Rome to deliver a two-day sales and marketing masterclass.
