Hacker News Reader

Comment by angarg12 | Hacker News Reader

We spaniards are just absolutely terrible at marketing. Every time that I see how italians have managed to convince the world to consume their produces, I feel ashamed. And when we finally manage to get recognition, we can't meet the demand because we are not set up to deal with international demand.

I hope this trend continues and we find new, healthier ways to expand our economy.

View on HN

I've heard this been mentioned before, but I entirely disagree. The more likely culprit is the 35 years of post-war Franco rule, it crippled Spain under a period when most global brands were being established. It's also no coincidence Zara was founded in 1975, now the world's largest apparel retailer.

At some point we'll have to stop blaming Franco for every problem we have. Yes, it was a time of isolationism that crippled us in many ways, but most of the people working today never lived through the worst of it. Even companies that were founded while Franco lived (or before) are now managed by a younger[0] crowd

In my (very personal) opinion, the fact that not many people, comparatively speaking, are fluent in any language other than the local languages and a certain level of short sightedness that makes us look only to local markets[1] has much more to do today than the dark ages of the dictatorship.

I moved out of Spain more than a decade ago and things seem to be changing (at least now I find spanish products in my local supermarket that I had to bring in my luggage before when I went for a visit), but we are late to the game and it will take time to catch up.

[0] Well, -ish

[1] Not exclusively a Spanish fault... Many countries suffer this to certain level.

I was explicitly referring to the topic at hand: Marketing abroad/International brands. What I described is undeniably one of the major reasons, if not the most important one. Most true global brands were established in the post-war period (Spain couldn't have participated in it that is).

Language barriers are a common issue for all our neighboring countries, more so in the past.

> most of the people working today never lived through the worst of it

You don't have to be around when the earthquake hits to live with its consequences. But sure, things are going somewhere, where exactly I'm not sure.

I suspect a lot of that success for Italy comes from exporting Italians - and then re-exporting Italian food via New York and Chicago, the homes of pizza.

For whatever reason there don't seem to have been nearly so many Iberian-Spanish immigrants, possibly they went to South America instead. Which has also been quite successful at exporting Spanish-language food..

True. In the past 2 weeks I have eaten Brazilian (not spanish, but south american), Argentine, Mexican, and Italian.

This is a good point. We associate Italian food w/ pizza and pasta but traditional Spanish food with...paella? Rioja wine? There's nothing for the common person to really grasp w/ Spanish food unless they go to some sort of overpriced tapas restaurant.

I feel the same as Portuguese. Granted we just don't carry the weight of the likes of Spain/France/Italy. But we are just so bad at exporting, it's unreal. I live in the UK and it's common to see all sorts of wines and meats from southern European countries in the supermarkets. Portugal will have 1 or 2 bottles of wine, typically from vineyards owned by UK nationals in Portugal. Even our Port - which is world famous - It's always from UK owned vineyards.

Like the Ponte 25 de Abril vs Gold Gate case, is often used as an example of underselling, USA is so good at it, might be the movie's effect.

In Porto cellars we visited a few years ago, the hosts explained that all grapes come from the Duoro River Valley in these cellars (technically not in Porto city proper, but Villa Nova de Gaia on the south bank of the river). And Porto (the product) is manufactured only there. I understood that they do not batch it per vineyards.

Are there any distinguishing signs on the labels that show the particular grape source?

The grapes should ALL be from the same Douro region, I don't think you'll get much more information than that. My criticism towards Portugal's lack of export savviness is more to the fact that all brands I see abroad are typically non-Portuguese (Whereas you have to assume the vineyard belongs to a foreigner/company). Brands like Ferreira, Velhotes, etc are not commonly seen outside Portugal, on the other hand, common international brands are not typically consumed by the average person (lack of knowledge of said brands + higher price probably drives the Portuguese away)

Thanks for the clarification. My comment and question was for part of your comment: "Even our Port - which is world famous - It's always from UK owned vineyards." Reading it I thought the origin vineyard is stated, and this is how you know that it is always from UK owned vineyards. Perhaps I misinterpreted it.

My Greek colleagues say the same about Greece, and having visited our Athens office a few times, I agree with them! Greek olive oil, cheese, and wine easily rival anything from Italy, but people (in the UK at least) tend to know the big Italian brands. According to my colleague, the finest chocolates are made with Greek almonds too, but they are not known as a product in themselves.

Prosecco is a good example of that. At least in the UK, anyway. Many British people are absolutely obsessed with the stuff, to the point where it forms part of their identity (See [0]). The Prosecco industry have done an astonishingly good job of marketing it over the last 10 years or so.

I'm not a wine connoisseur, but when it comes to "cheap Champagne substitutes" I've always thought that Cava is basically just as good. And I'm aware that phrase will probably offend lovers of all three drinks!

[0] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=prosecco+wall+sign&iar=images&iax=...

As a french I’m baffled by that. Italy and France have amazing marketting (ever been to eataly?) but spanish food is way tastier.

I don't know why you say that. I think Jamon Iberico is rated higher than Italian hams, but perhaps that's just an exception. The types Italian wines and food that are popular abroad might be more diverse compared to Spanish.

I'm always amazed by the quality, price and diversity of the food in Spain. One of the reasons I like skiing there.

I think you're right. Everybody knowns parmaham, but much less serranoham. While similar, the first is from Italy and the second from Spain.

Yep, for ex some olive oil branded as Italian is in fact Spanish [citation needed]

If you want high quality olive oil, your choices are either American or Spanish. Italian olive oil (at least, the exports) are garbage and probably 49% Not Olive Oil.

I bought Italian EVOO for the longest time (it's all most super markets carried), but never understood why so many people loved to eat it over pasta, or said you shouldn't fry with it. I always thought the flavor was kind of neutral and always pan-fried it without issue. Then I learned about the wide-spread fraud in the Italian EVOO market[0] and decided to pick up some expensive ($9 a cup) Californian EVOO.

The difference in flavor was so stark, like comparing a steak and an all-beef hot dog. Good EVOO has a wonderful, vibrant flavor. Now we eat pasta with just EVOO and cheese pretty often. I also discovered that when you stir fry with good EVOO, it will take on a bitter, burnt flavor.

[0]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393070212/ref=as_li_ss_tl...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com