ToscaNino was born from the idea of Simone Arnetoli, a Florentine entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the catering and restaurant business. Through his activity, he intends to enhance the deep bond with his land and promote Tuscan excellence in the food and wine, artistic and cultural fields. In addition to the restaurants and bistros, ToscaNino has decided to equip itself with some vehicles for street food: its first Ape, called “ToscApino”, was positioned inside The Mall Luxury Outlet in Florence. Immersed in the Tuscan countryside, the place offers a very accurate type of welcome and brings together an exclusive selection of luxury brands, in order to offer a true luxury shopping experience to its customers.

A few days ago, we met Simone and his ToscApino to understand how his project was developed on board the StreetFoody vehicles and how he managed to integrate them into the elegant setting of the luxury mall in Florence:

L: Hi Simone, it is really a pleasure to be here with you today! Let’s start immediately with the presentations: tell us a little about yourself and your projects.
S: Hi Lorenzo, thanks to you! I am a first-generation Tuscan entrepreneur. I love my land very much and I love to enhance it through my businesses. Among the various activities that I manage, there is the ToscaNino: a reality born five years ago from the idea of creating a project that spoke 100% of Tuscany, and that would bring together the food and wine and artisan excellence of the area.
Not surprisingly, today we are at The Mall Luxury Outlet, a prestigious outlet located in the heart of Tuscany. Here, surrounded by international brands of the highest level, the ToscaNino project has found its natural place. The managers of the luxury mall were looking for a new and original service, characterized by a visible and profound link with Tuscany and the territory that surrounds it, and we have been able to please them.

L: When did you think of contacting StreetFoody?
S: The need arises from the desire to increase our stores and help companies like The Mall to expand the offer for their customers, especially during the busiest times of the year. We thought about what could be the ideal strategy to better manage seasonality within the shopping center. The StreetFoody Ape was the answer to all our needs: it is an elastic, slim and fast tool, capable of being inserted comfortably inside the structure. In addition, it respects the aesthetic standards imposed by the elegant image of the luxury mall. In short, the Ape allowed us to highlight once again the importance of the Tuscan territory within our project, and to be able to solve the needs of the outlet in a simple and fast way.
This is how ToscApino was born!

S: Lorenzo, have I ever told you why I choose StreetFoody?
L: Honestly no, but I’m curious to know!
S: At ToscaNino, we seek excellence not only in the products we offer, but also in the quality of the furnishings and handcrafted creations in our stores. For example, the floors laid inside our restaurants were produced exclusively in Tuscany. For this reason, when we decided to invest in vehicles for street food, we could only choose the leader in the production of food trucks that is located a stone’s throw from our house. It was a nice surprise for us who apply the philosophy of Km0 not only to the dishes we bring to our customers’ tables.
Our need to have multipurpose tools available, which could satisfy ever-changing moments of use, has been fulfilled by your company, capable of listening to our needs and following us in the design of our ideas. Thanks to this approach, it was possible to transform our ToscApino into a “Tuscan” pokeria, or into a corner dedicated to sandwiches with lampredotto.

L: Simone, how has your work changed with the introduction of ToscApino?
S: The way we think about future projects and the approach we have towards our customers has changed considerably. It is essential for us to be able to differentiate the offer and positioning of our stores. ToscApino allows us to be able to quickly create temporary situations and to be able to follow special initiatives related to Christmas parties, communication events with important guests, or theme nights. In addition, the versatility of these vehicles offers significant potential for development and revenue growth. Investing in a food truck is a self-liquidating move: with the increase in the possibility of use, the turnover also increases, maintaining only the minimum costs associated with the management and maintenance of the vehicle.

L: When we tell our customers about the potential of street food vehicles, a fundamental aspect is certainly linked to the development of graphics and communication that can reflect their business idea. ToscApino perfectly identifies the history of your brand. How do you plan to introduce yourself to the public?
S: The degree of personalization that could be given to their graphic and communicative aspects was decisive in the choice of vehicles. The Ape wins on its own, because it is a symbol of Italian design and goes very well with the concept of Tuscany that we want to convey through our project, but the quality of the interventions that have been made by the expert graphic designers of StreetFoody is also essential. The first thing our customers say when they see our ToscApino is “how beautiful it is”, even before understanding the service offered inside. Furthermore, before being positioned inside the luxury mall, the graphic and communication aspects of our vehicle were examined by the Kering management group, which approved them with great enthusiasm. In short, we with so many ideas and you who put them into practice with the help of your graphic designers: together, we were able to find the right solution on wheels to pass through the scrutiny of the big brands.

L: Thanks Simone for this nice chat. It is truly a pleasure to be with you and to be able to understand the passion you put into your projects. It is overwhelming.
S: Thank you for visiting. Come back soon, because no one does barley as good as we do it!
L: At this point, would you do without your trucks?
S: Absolutely not. Our customers can no longer do without it. Trucks are indispensable, now we just have to design others.
L: Very well then, see you at the next project!
S: Definitely. Thanks for your visit, it is a pleasure to do projects with you and with your company.