NEW tastes and flavours from Italy are due to arrive in Southampton this month as a new deli opens on Bedford Place.

Florio’s D’Italia is set to open on the city street in around eight days time with the finishing touches and stocking of the shop now taking place.

Owned by Alessandro Florio, the new premises will be the second store of its kind in the south, with the first store having opened in Portsmouth in July last year.

When Alessandro was young his father owned a restaurant in Italy and he would spend many days travelling across the country to discover new tastes to serve.

Born in 1968, the year his father opened his restaurant, Alessandro moved to England 25 years ago and originally began selling on an ice cream van before moving into the wholesale industry and in July last year, following the closure of the hospitality industry due to the pandemic, opened his first store.

Now he says he is keen to trial different tastes and delicious flavours through the new Bedford Place store, to offer residents something which isn’t available in supermarkets or most restaurants.

The store stocks over 1,000 Italian products ranging from alcohols like beers, spirits and wines, to snacks, pastas fresh products, sausages, salami’s and cheeses.

Alessandro said: “It’s very exciting. We cannot wait to meet the customers from Southampton. There’s a big Italian community. We have so many people who came from Southampton in the last 12 months to Portsmouth.

“For us, food is passion. We want to bring something to the British public. I know a lot of people have travelled and tried amazing stuff that is not available in this country. My mission is to bring Italy on a plate to the south coast.”

The store has already taken on a new member of staff and now the company is looking for a part-time shop assistant and an extra person to help with deliveries in the Portsmouth store.

Alessandro’s son, Max said: “We started from one room on the premises that we’re in now and it quickly grew to four rooms. In a year we’ve essentially grown from one wooden shelf rack to an entire warehouse.

“It’s a nice thing to have seen that growth and hopefully see it continue as well when we open the new shop.”

Over the next six months, Alessandro says he plans to see how it goes in Southampton, and if it goes well then they may look at other premises in the area as well.

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