Esselunga S.p.A. is an important Italian retail store chain. Founded in 1957 by the Caprotti Family (in this case it was the 3 brothers Bernardo, Guido and Claudio) with Nelson Rockefeller, the company is now entirely owned by the Caprotti family through Supermarkets Italiani S.p.A.
It was the first supermarket chain in Italy and was the first to introduce on-line shopping and self-produced biological products.
With its 17,000 employees the company, had a �.9 billion turnover in 2006. Esselunga controles about 9% of the Italian grocery distribution market.
Esselunga is entirely owned by the family and is not on the stock market. This fact, rare nowadays for a company of these dimensions, makes the chain even more particular.
It is ranked as the fourth most profitable company in the European retail sector (in proportion to its size) and it is Italy's 23rd largest company.
Esselunga has owned 50% of the Italian "branch" of Penny Market (a REWE group company).
Rumors recently claimed that the group had been acquired, possibly by Tesco or Wal-mart. Breaking the silence, the 82 year old president Bernardo Caprotti has said he absolutely isn't planning to die and for this reason he does not plan to sell his jewel at all.
Esselunga S.p.A（SPA系意大利语societa per azioni之缩略称谓，指（共同）股份公司，许多意大利公司以此结尾）在意大利是龙头食品连锁店，于1957年由Caprotti家族3兄弟（ Bernardo, Guido and Claudio）及Nelson Rockefeller建立，公司为Caprotti 家族持有所有股份。
Esselunga S.p.A是意大利最早出现的连锁超市，其最先引进网上销售并自行培养作物进行生产。公司拥有 17,000 员工，06年营业额为49亿欧元，占9%杂货品食品市场。
其完全为Caprotti家族所有，非股份有限公司（注：现为股份有限制公司），这在现今能达到这种规模的公司里，是很罕见的，因而更显示了公司产业链的独特。
Esselunga S.p.A被列为欧洲零售部门第四高收益的公司（相较于它的规模），并且，它在意大利公司规模上排行23位。并且，其在REWE集团旗下Penny Market 意大利分部持有50%股份。
舆论说Esselunga S.p.A可能已经被Tesco或Wal-mart收购。最后82岁的董事长Bernardo Caprotti 发表声明：他目前绝对不会逝世，所以他没打算卖掉自己所珍视的“宝石”。
Bernardo Caprotti通过事实否认了此种谣言：2005年Esselunga集团投资了3.15亿欧元用于购买伦巴第和托斯卡纳大区的商贸大楼和在科莫、Castelletto Ticino、Nembro以及博洛尼亚的零售店，2006年又在佛罗伦萨开了一家零售店，在皮亚琴察开设一家新超市。
