As the old man had shuffled towards the podium, he allowed himself a smile. What was an old market gardener like him doing here, he mused, surrounded by all these corporate types?

He was there to receive an award – “The Best Supermarket Product Launch of the Year.” (Another wry smile). For Valle degli Orti, no less. His favourite frozen vegetables, the ones he presented on television.

Well, they tasted better, he had agreed. And his wife did prefer their original combinations and their new-fangled packs. And, yes, the story of Valle degli Orti did ring true. It had reminded him of the lush green valley where he had grown up and the minestre of his youth.

Presumably that story rang a bell with the competition too and that is why Nestle’ had bought Valle degli Orti. After all, if you cannot beat them, buy them, as his boss used to say. Or was it the young advertising man, the one who told the story of his valley and its vegetables in the first place?

Either way, no-one was complaining. The original owners had sold the brand well. Nestle’ had bought a troublesome competitor. And he had enjoyed the commercials and his fifteen minutes of fame. Now, whatever became of that young advertising man?

The young man, one of those behind the story of Valle degli Orti, went on to co-found brandstory italia and is now equally proud of his new baby.