Italian entrepreneur and respected patriarch, Guido De Nadai, establishes a fruit and vegetables trading company in Asmara; specialising in imported Italian products, and sourcing local products, particularly bananas. The company’s repertoire soon extends as far as the Middle East.
De Nadai begins trading with Saudi Arabia and in two short years further extends services to other Arabian Gulf countries, while also exporting to Italy from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.
De Nadai acquires the company’s first reefer cargo ships, and with other chartered vessels builds its first fleet, making it possible to export products from South Africa to the Gulf nations. The company grows and thrives, becoming one of the most important players of its sector in the Middle East.
In Elabered, a town in Eritrea on the road from Asmara to Keren, De Nadai sets up a plantation to further expand his business, building dams and schools to support the local community. Here, he produces preserved goods as well as fruit and vegetables, through multiple processing and conservation plants, and a thriving dairy farm and winery.
Meanwhile, Guido De Nadai’s large and vivacious family keeps growing and thanks to his childrens’ coming of age, the company continues to extend its ventures and expertise to different corners of the world.
With the onset of the Ethiopian Civil War, part of the family returns to Padua, Italy, while others settle in Saudi Arabia. The company grows in the Middle East, becoming an important and recognised distributor of food products sourced from all over the world.
De Nadai starts exploring Chile with the intention of expanding the business. He discovers a vast country, rich in fertile lands and ambitious people, eager to supply to the Middle East but also to provide Italy with out-of-season fresh fruit.
Fueled by his success in Saudi Arabia, De Nadai further develops the Chilean project. Under his watchful eye, the business evolves from mere coordination and quality control of fruit supply into a real production activity. The ultimate goal: to officially re-establish the company and create a new identity, consistent with the purpose of guaranteeing increasingly higher ethical and quality product standards.
The Unifrutti brand is born, with the Chilean division the first company of what will later become the Unifrutti Group. The company soon establishes itself as one of the leading exporters of fruit from Chile thanks to an efficient, flexible, and innovative organisation, expanding its business to Europe, North America and South America. The historic logo that defines the Group's communication is also created at this time.
Upon Guido De Nadai’s passing, the second generation takes up the mantle of his legacy. His heirs are entrusted with key roles in the development and coordination of the group, creating a strong family and professional collaboration that will be fundamental in making Unifrutti a company that is both dynamic and rooted in very solid values.
