Esperya is the most well-known on line shop which sells high quality food in all Europe.

 

Founded in 1998, Esperya receives the most hits of any online European gourmet shop. On its site, visited daily by over 4.000 individuals, Esperya offers its 25,000 clients a unique array of over eight hundred Italian food products.

 

Esperya transforms the daily routine of eating into a special event.

 

Food which not only satisfies a basic need, but provides an enjoyable, exciting and "multi-sensory" experience, with an added cultural and social dimension - this, in short, is the ideal behind the creation of Esperya.

 

The products offered by Esperya are a rich source of both enjoyment and instruction. Every single product is packed with extreme care and many are accompanied by an identity card that provides further information about that product. Esperya aims to satisfy what we see as our Clients' positively burning desire to absorb the cultural background of the product in all its diversity. Drawing on Italy's rich culture in this way can help transform a simple meal with friends into a cultural celebration, a truly delightful and special event.

 

Esperya is an online gourmet shop

The speciality shop, in contrast with the impersonal supermarket, has added value that results largely from the wisdom and expertise of the shopkeeper. The contents of a speciality shop must be valuable, pleasing, useful and interesting. No one expects a supermarket manager to know all about the products it stocks, just as no one imagines a small food producer to be an expert in customer care and services. A speciality shop, however, can embrace both these crucial aspects.

 

Esperya is a gourmet shop; true, it's an online shop, but in all other respects it is a very real shop. We have a product warehouse; we buy (and pay for in advance) those that meet our high quality standards; we store, package, and ship goods to our clients' homes.

 

Esperya's product selection has its origins in a catalogue of travel, notes, talks, meetings and recommendations. The selection's prime concern is to preserve originality and typicality, over and against stultifying uniformity. The products are grouped by category (olive oil, wine and vinegar, beer, honey, pasta and rice, meats, cheese, sweets and coffee, seafood, and preserves) and by region. The regional classification helps Esperya Clients to find their way through the rich variety of Italian products and to appreciate the cultural heritage of the different regions.

Our path is the complete opposite to that of the Food Industry, which conceals and degrades authentic products by appropriating their traditional names, without respecting established production methods. Our aim is to recover true local Italian specialities.

 


A good percentage of the products selected by Esperya come from the most rural and disadvantaged areas of Italy. Particular breeds, varieties of vegetable and legume, cured meats, cheeses and types of honey often owe their outstanding characteristics to the isolation, and the less than hospitable climates and soils where they are reared, grown or produced. The location of these areas is often in stark contrast with the exigencies of the modern food industry, which often penalizes agriculture in inaccessibly mountainous and hilly areas - areas that are already weakened by productive and occupational impoverishment.

 

For Esperya, safeguarding these areas is a primary goal.

 


Esperya uses two criteria of selection: taste and typicality

What, then, are the essential characteristics of a good product?


Primarily, those that are perceived by the senses. This is undoubtedly the main criterion that determines the selection of a product by Esperya. Almost always, the perceptible quality and taste of a product result from a particular set of parameters. It is no coincidence that such quality relates to the nutritional aspects of the diet employed in rearing a particular breed; the origin of the milk selected for a cheese; and the variety of vegetable or fruit used in making a preserve.

What are the characteristics of a ‘typical' product?


It must satisfy a number of basic criteria: quality ingredients, particular methods of preparation, specific geographical location and an appropriate scale of production.

 


Esperya sells its product selection through the Internet

But why open an online shop, rather than a real "bricks and mortar" one in an Italian city centre square?

 

Simple: because for the first time, thanks to the internet, an enthusiastic, aspiring shopkeeper will be able to take advantage of the existence of a potential market without worrying about the problem of location, which is normally a key point for anyone opening a "real" shop. As a consequence, there is no need to select products purely in response to the predilections of the local market. Instead, the shopkeeper can make his own choice, and rely on the fact that, in the vast sea of internet users, there will always be a sufficient number of people who share the same passion for these speciality products.

 


Esperya offers next-day deliveries in Europe

Esperya's express delivery service is the one that our products deserve: the best. This service guarantees the delivery of a parcel in 24 hours throughout the European Union - whether Rome, Stockholm, London, Madrid or any other location (remote areas are served by 48 hour delivery). The goods travel at Esperya's risk and in case of any problem with the delivery service, the Esperya Client will be fully compensated. Only with this service can we guarantee the perfect integrity of our products, and plan the exact delivery date with the Client.


The Esperya Client buys, besides the products, a guarantee of delivery that incorporates speed, security, convenience, and reliability.

 


Esperya go further than the law demands.

Sales made online are subject to the same laws as those made through catalogues. The law requires these types of merchant to provide certain guarantees for their customers, especially concerning the returns policy. Esperya has chosen not only to respect the law, but to exceed its legal obligations:


Italian law states: "The Customer can change his mind within 10 days of placing the order".
Esperya Clients may change their mind whenever they like.


"The Customer who changes his mind must notify the merchant by registered mail, at his own expense". And what about the phone and the fax, what are they for? And email, which is even less expensive?
Esperya Clients may choose to notify us by any of these methods of communication.


"The Customer must return the goods to the supplier at his own expense" Esperya Clients do not need to do anything.
Esperya will retrieve the goods at its own expense.


"If the Customer is not satisfied with a product he must prove that there is a production fault".
If Esperya Clients are not satisfied with a product, they just need to inform Esperya, and it will be exchanged for another product of equal or higher value, or if preferred, a full refund will be made.


"The Customer must return the unwanted or unsatisfactory goods in their original sealed packaging". And just how can the customer be dissatisfied with the wine sent to him, if first he hasn't even opened the bottle and tasted it? Esperya Clients do not need to return anything.
Esperya will retrieve the goods at its own expense, even if opened and partly consumed, and only if it is necessary to examine any faults and eliminate them in the future.


Precept for Italian law: it's good to trust, but it's best to be careful. Put the customer in a position to do no harm.
Precept for Esperya: you live better if you trust those around you.


Esperya Clients are demanding but fair: they trust us just as we trust them.