Massimo Tripaldi, the President of Assoenologi for Apulia, Calabria and Basilicata, is the winemaker of Cantina di Ruvo di Puglia.
He has a determining role in this apulian wine growers cooperative with more than 500 members which every year take to the winery over 10.000 tons of grape.
He has been supporting Cantina di Ruvo di Puglia for six years, which aims to propose itself as a leading production reality in the local and national wine scene, also thanks to its presence and its staff too.
Graduated as a wine technician in Locorotondo in ’94, and then in Agricultural Sciences in Bari, he began his career in Asti, but the love for Puglia led him very soon to leave Piedmont and return to his homeland. He immediately advised several Apulian wineries.
Currently it follows many companies, private wineries, cooperatives and brands of national and international fame, just like Crifo.
Dr. Tripaldi, you are a consultant for multi-member cooperatives and private companies. According to your own experience, what is the difference between the two entrepreneurial realities?
“There are two main differences. In the first case I feel a greater responsibility. For example, for what concerns Cantina di Ruvo di Puglia I have the responsibility of more than 500 families who live by the results of my work. And it is very different from working for a private individual with only one family living by my work. The cooperative binds you morally. At least for me, I come from a family of winemakers, linked to a cooperative, and I grew up in a family tied to the cellar of which it was part. It is clear, on the other hand, that in a private-owned company it is easier to make decisions linked to the choice of a single family unit or enterprise. Instead, in a cooperative the decisions have to be approved from the board of directors and also the times for making a proposal operational lengthen, even if I must say that in the case of Cantina di Ruvo di Puglia everything is very professional”.
In which terms?
“I mean that everything is structured according to sectors and each sector has its own responsibility and goals: each one has a very precise role and detailed and circumscribed skills, and no one goes beyond the boundaries. There are people taking care of the commercial aspects, others working for logistics, or some others like me who curates the technical part, always in continuous symbiosis, but not exceeding the sectoral competences. This makes the process of proposal analysis and decision-making much more streamlined. In addition, it is very professional. Only at the end of the goal, the result is evaluated by the board of directors”.
So is this the secret of the longevity of this cooperative and its professional marriage with such many partners?
“Personally, it is part of my professional history: with almost all the companies I have had a long-lasting relationship. In the only two cases in which I dissolved the consultation prematurely I did it almost immediately, because I believe that if there is any difference of intents, it always manifests itself immediately. On the contrary, if the compatibility of goals is clear from the beginning, the harmony lasts for life”.
What is your mission for Crifo, then?
“When I was contacted, the goal of the winery was to work on the quality level, maintaining and even expanding the commercial capacity of the 0.75 liter bottles. I think the goal has been achieved, even if we still have a long way to go. We have come to produce 2 to 3 million bottles and now we plan to double the production”.