Ciao!
If you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll know that I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Amazon.
On the one hand, by providing a way for manufacturers and distributors to reach the consumer directly they’ve made a lot of products more affordable and accessible to a lot more people.
On the other hand, with their palpable laissez-faire approach to third party sellers, they’ve mainstreamed acceptance of all kinds of fraud, intellectual property theft, misrepresentation, shoddy manufacturing, and the outright mainstreaming of companies who achieve low prices.
Worse, while Amazon collect their commission from the third party sellers, the third party sellers are raking in millions of dollars from American consumers and sending it straight on the communist China in the form of taxes, bribery, and other forms of fealty.
Which is why I’m particularly surprised to have been surfing Amazon tonight and finding a page called Made in Italy, where every product sold is made in Italy.
The Made in Italy Store
So, apparently this page is a section of Amazon.com dedicated to highlighting products made in Italy. I came across this page back in May 2023 when Amazon was running a promotional sale, but I was pleased to see that they decided to keep this as a permanent storefront to highlight products made in Italy.
In order to be listed here, their rules are simple: products must be made entirely in Italy or have undergone the last “substantial and economically justified transformation or processing” in Italy, in accordance with the regulatory requirements governing the use of the term “Made in Italy”. Every product that gets listed in this store must be approved.
When a product is listed on this page, this will show up in the “Additional Details” section of the product page.
Expanding this text will reveal this:
Is Amazon Finally Listening to its Customers About Country of Origin??
We’ve of course been asking Amazon to disclose country of origin for years, but they refused. When the US Congress took up a bill to mandate retailers to do this, Amazon even spent millions of dollars lobbying this provision to be removed and lo and behold, it was ripped out of the final bill and never heard from again.
As upset as I was with Amazon at the time, I realized after a while that the old saying “never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence” applied. In this case, it meant that Amazon was admitting that it itself couldn’t even police the monster it created with third party sellers.
I have noticed that Amazon is showing Country of Origin on more and more of its products, but it’s clear that they are leaving it up to their sellers and manufacturers to disclose this information and aren’t taking any steps to police it.
I really hope that this Made in Italy Store is Amazon’s way of finally at least making an effort to give us consumers a clear choice in a way that Amazon knows it can manage with high standards. As of may there there were only about 1,000 products in this store, but today I see over 7,000.
If you’re looking for something made in Italy, be sure to shop from this collection to send Amazon a message. We want to see one of these for Germany, the United States, Japan, Canada, and more. If no one buys from this collection, we won’t see another one. If a lot of people do, Amazon might get inspired to continue to build these out, and it’ll be a welcome relief to find products that aren’t from you-know-where.
The Best Deals
The Made in Italy store on Amazon is split into these categories:
I love pasta (who doesn’t?) and so I decided to test them out to see how many highly-rated types of pasta I could buy from Italian names that don’t end in “Boyardee”. Here’s what I found:
- Pearled Farro (Cucina & Amore)
- Fusilli (Barilla)
- Rice (Acquerello)
- Cavatappi (Colvita)
- Pappardelle (Morelli)
- Mezzi Paccheri (De Cecco)
- Spaghetti (Rummo)
- Linguini (De Cecco)
- Bucatini (Morelli)
- Macaroni (Tuscanini)
- Wagon Wheels (Colvita)
- Angel Hair Capellini (Barilla)
- Tagliolini (Morelli)
- Rigatoni (Marulo)
- Fettucine (Tuscanini)
- Penne (Rummo)
Needless to say, they passed the test. Shopping here is like shopping in an Italian grocery store, with names that are household names in Italy.
Here are some of the other standouts in the Grocery and Gourmet Foods Category:
- Lavazza Crema E Aroma Whole Bean Coffee Blend – $14.24
- S. Pellegrino Sparking Natural Mineral Water – $26.56
- Zotz Fizzy Candy Bag – $9.80
- Giuseppe Giusti Balsamic Vinegar – $39.99
- Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour – $18.29
- Luxardo Maraschino Cherries – $21.99
- Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil – $29.99
Here are some highlights from the Home and Furniture Category:
- Moka Express Italian Coffee Maker – $33.58
- Imperia Pasta Maker Machine – $64.94
- DaTerra Cucina Professional Nonstick Frying Pan – $89.00
- Alessi 9093 Kettle – 101.74
- Godinger Coffee Mugs – $19.95
Here are some highlights from the Apparel and Accessories Category:
- Ray-Ban Wayfarer Sunglasses – $163.00
- Miabella Italian 925 Sterling Silver Chain Necklace – $21.90
- Emporio Armani Men’s Chronograph Dress Watch – $185.59
- Gucci Black Sunglasses – $212.00
- Tom Ford Eyeglasses – $160.29
And from Beauty and Wellness
- Marvis Whitening Mint Toothpaste – $13.50
- Fanola No Yellow Shampoo – $14.99
- Davines Ol Shampoo – $38.00
- Proraso After Shave Lotion – $14.00
- Davines LOVE Smoothing Shampoo – $34.00
I appreciate that Amazon is doing its part to promote products that are made in Italy. The next part is really up to us, the consumers. Will we continue to go for the absolute cheapest prices on products, regardless of the consequences? Or will we spend a little money to help local business in Italy continue to make top quality products?
The power has always been with we, the consumer. If we stop buying stuff made in China, retailers and manufacturers will get the hint. Please shop at Amazon’s Made in Italy store so that they get the message that there are plenty of people who still value quality.
