Zenzero

The partnership between McDonald’s and GialloZafferano, Italy’s most popular food media brand, has been renewed for the sixth consecutive year. This partnership, which has led to sales of 45 million sandwiches, is now returning with a new edition of McChicken Creations: two tasty recipes inspired by the original McChicken, available in all of the over 700 restaurants until 28 October.

The two variants boast high-quality Italian ingredients that enhance the classic 100% Italian, free-range, GMO-free chicken breast supplied by Amadori and the bread produced in Italy by Bimbo. The new recipe for 2024, McChicken Delizioso, combines crispy bacon and Italian artichokes, along with “Grana Padano PDO” artichoke sauce; McChicken Gustoso is also back in a Wrap version with crispy bacon, Italian red cabbage and Pecorino Romano DOP & pepper sauce.

The McChicken Creations reaffirm McDonald’s commitment to the Italian food supply chain year after year: in 2023, the company invested around 415 million euro in the sector. McDonald’s commitment is also reflected in its strong ties with the Protection Consortia, with which – thanks to the valuable support of the Qualivita Foundation – it has been working since 2008. Since then, 21 PDO and PGI ingredients have been introduced into McDonald’s menus, included in more than 45 recipes, with a total of 7,000 tons of raw materials used.

The McChicken Creations were conceived by McDonald’s and GialloZafferano, which created two recipes that showcase Made in Italy excellence.

“We are proud to re-launch such an important project for McDonald’s. For six years, the McChicken Creations initiative has seen us unite with GialloZafferano in the goal of creating recipes that showcase the quality and taste of Made in Italy ingredients,” remarks Giorgia Favaro, CEO of McDonald’s Italy. “This annual initiative not only strengthens our connection with Italy, but also reaffirms our concrete commitment to supporting the agri-food sector. Partly thanks to the collaboration with the Qualivita Foundation, over the past 15 years our support has enabled us to highlight local excellence, bringing PDO and GI-certified Italian products to our customers’ trays.”

“GialloZafferano’s partnership with McDonald’s is a truly successful project to which we are particularly committed,” comments Andrea Santagata, CEO of Mondadori Media. “It perfectly represents some of the key elements that make up our brand’s DNA. These include always offering products that are tasty and accessible to everyone, combining Italian character with innovation, and dialoguing with and entertaining our target audience by developing new communication languages and formats,” Santagata concludes.

The new edition of the McChicken Creations was presented today at a special event at the GialloZafferano headquarters, attended by Giorgia Favaro, CEO of McDonald’s Italy, Andrea Santagata, CEO of Mondadori Media, Nicola Lussana, CEO of Mediamond, Mauro Rosati, General Manager of the Qualivita Foundation, Stefano Berni, General Manager of the Consorzio di Tutela Grana Padano, and Gianni Maoddi, Chairman of the Consorzio di Tutela Pecorino Romano.

The event also involved GialloZafferano’s top food creators, including Sebastian Fitarau, Luisa Orizio – Allacciate il grembiule, Angello Coassin – Cooking with Bello, Gessica Runcio – Le ricette da Gessica, Andriana Kulchytska and Dany Resconi, who collaborated on the project with a series of exclusive content posted on social media.

The outstanding presenters were the two faces of the Le Iene TV show, Veronica Ruggeri and Stefano Corti, who conducted the event with their distinctive style, involving speakers and participants.

All the activities and visibility plan for the McChicken Creations were developed together with Brand On Solutions, Mediamond’s project area, with the coordination of OMD and in partnership with Leo Burnett, on all digital channels of Giallozafferano, from the website to all social media profiles – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube –, and the app, with the addition of push notifications targeted at McDonald’s drive-to-store and drive-to-app.

GialloZafferano, Italy’s leading food media brand, continues its growth path in the United States with the launch of a new roster of Chef Creators, true ambassadors of Italian national culinary excellence, who are conquering New York City with their restaurants and cooking philosophy.

With almost 70 million followers on social media globally, GialloZafferano is now the fourth most important food media brand worldwide and the first player to promote the quality of Italian cuisine and products abroad with its content. The overseas presence represents an opportunity for Italian brands that want to strengthen their positioning in the American cooking market.

GialloZafferano landed in the US over a year ago with a strategy consisting of dedicated social media profiles, original content productions, iconic talent, and million-view results. It’s no coincidence that GialloZafferano Loves Italy, the social media account dedicated to internal audiences, has decided to promote the new wave of Italian cuisine, mixing tradition and modernity, which is a feature that’s necessary today in order to be able to communicate Italian products worldwide, especially to the US market.

This content offering is now joined by important new stars: Silvia Barban, Nicola Fedeli, Alberto Marcolongo and Riccardo Orfino. Together with GialloZafferano, four of the most successful and talented Italian chefs in New York will invent original recipes and content dedicated to the American market. Giallo ‘s communicative power and the chefs’ recipes will create an original mix of format and content capable of combining authority and quality with record-breaking reach.

From today, with GialloZafferano, Italian food brands will have a veritable food content factory of authentic and engaging content designed for an American audience at their disposal to promote their products.

And that’s not all: the project will also count on the involvement and passion for cooking of Cooker Girl, Aurora Cavallo, the food creator with over 2 million followers and the new brand ambassador for GialloZafferano in the United States, who in the coming months will be the star of GialloZafferano Loves Italy, the new English-language miniseries dedicated to the history and quality of Italy’s most iconic products.

THE CHEFS ON THE NEW GIALLOZAFFERANO ROSTER

Silvia Barban is the Executive Chef and co-owner of Larina Pastificio e Vino in Brooklyn (NYC). Her cuisine revisits local tradition with her energy, using seasonal and even unusual products from all over the world, which she combines with fresh handmade pasta. In the past, she has participated in several talent shows and TV programmes in the States.

Nicola Fedeli, with a series of experiences in the Tuscan region behind him, is Executive Chef at the Hotel Fasano in New York, now a standard for those who love classic Italian cuisine with a contemporary touch.

Alberto Marcolongo is the Executive Chef at Alain Ducasse’s Benoit in New York. After working at Davide Oldani’s D’O, and gaining experience in Paris, he landed in the US as sous-chef at Alain’s renowned bistro in Midtown (NYC). Alberto is considered one of the most promising Italian chefs, thanks to his ability to combine the use of excellent raw materials with international cuisine recipes.

Riccardo Orfino is the Executive Chef and partner of Osteria 57 and Alice in New York. After heading the first Bistrot di Aimo e Nadia in Milan – under the guidance of Chefs Fabio Pisani and Alessandro Negrini –, he moved to New York, bringing his experience with a new idea of contemporary, pescetarian and sustainable Italian cuisine.

GialloZafferano‘s new roster of chefs in the United States will be managed by Zenzero, Mondadori Media’s vertical food talent agency.

GialloZafferano is Italy’s leading food media brand on the Internet: every month 1 in 2 Italians cooks with GialloZafferano for a total of 19 million people (Audicom Nov 2023 – Jan 2024). It is the fourth largest food media brand in the world on social media, with a fanbase of 69 million followers (source: Internal Analyses and Shareableand Comscore Data 2024). Thanks to recipes within everyone’s grasp, it is available to people 24/7 on all channels: from the Internet to social media, from apps to smart devices, as well as magazines, books and local area events nationwide.

Zenzero exclusively manages the best food creators on the Italian digital scene. Created at the end of 2022 from the collaboration between GialloZafferano, One Shot Agency and 6 of the top food creators on the Italian digital scene, it has over 38 million followers and over 50 million video views. Zenzero Talent Agency represents a new point of contact between an extraordinary hub of creators and brand partners with the aim of setting up effective communication pathways that respond to the increasingly strong need of brands to tap into the passions, values and new languages of Generation Z as well.

Giffoni and Giallozafferano, a partnership that tells of excellence and talent. In fact, the Giffoni Food Show will partner with the no.1 food brand in Italy for the second year running, in a collaboration that promises to be stronger than ever.

After last year’s resounding success, this year the project is enriched, renewed, and grows in terms of content and shared values.

The goal is the same one as last year: to accompany the festival’s young jurors, together with their parents, visitors or those merely curious about food, on a conscious quest to learn about healthy but above all sustainable, food-waste-reducing cuisine, all free of charge.

The story is told by first-rate storytellers, such as food influencers, star chefs, master pastry chefs and pizza chefs of national and international stature, through a schedule of initiatives powered by Giallozafferano.

And this year, one new feature will be the presence of some of the food creators from Zenzero, the talent agency inspired by the experience of Giallozafferano, which brings together the best food creators on the Italian digital scene. A unique agency with a roster that racks up, to date, a total of more than 20 million followers, 200 million video views and more than 10 million interactions per month.  The protagonists of the Giffoni Food Show will include prestigious food talents such as: Daniele Rossi, the Tuscan chef whose cuisine is modern and sophisticated but has its roots in local traditions; Cooker Girl, the girl with the “red apron”, a passion for cooking and a desire to experiment; Diletta Secco, a stylish, cheerful and spontaneous storyteller, always attentive to the environment and healthy eating. The Zenzero roster also includes many outstanding talents with a gift for igniting the passion for cooking in all generations of Italians on all platforms. A kaleidoscope of languages, flavours, styles, traditions and innovation that has already won over millions of followers, a loyal audience of cooking enthusiasts and gastronauts always on the lookout for new ideas and flavors in the kitchen.

The first edition of Giffoni Food Show last year was met with great acclaim and enthusiastic participation by children and their families. More than 30 professionals including chefs, food bloggers, master pizza makers and master pastry chefs took part in the format, bringing to life moments of food education and cooking performances. The protagonists of the evenings were the grand masters of the Accademia Nazionale Pizza Doc, the AMPI (Association of Italian Master Pastry Chefs) who presented the “GiffonDOro” dessert created exclusively for the Giffoni Film Festival. The partners in the food section included Accademia Nazionale Pizza Doc, Terra Orti, Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani, Sacar Forni and La Sciccheria Gourmet.

Last year’s event was a new opportunity for the crowds in attendance, who represented a society that is increasingly aware of and interested in food sustainability issues. Giallozafferano played a leading role in last year’s busy event, with the creators and faces of the brand creating a compelling narrative.

For 2023, the partnership is renewed and strengthened with new content and new ideas. Explaining the taste and pleasure of healthy cooking to kids, is the ambitious mission of Giffoni and Giallozafferano, as they join forces to tell the story of excellence and talents in the world of food.

A hint of Zenzero, the talent agency of the top food creators of the Italian digital scene, has landed in the world of communications.

This one of a kind reality came to life thanks to the founding fathers of Giallozafferano’s workforce – a leading Italian media food brand behind this initiative; practically the result of One Shot Agency’s experience in social communications combined with the creativity, talent and success of five of the most renowned Italian food creators.

Giallozafferano – already renowned with 50 million followers in Italy and abroad – was the first editorial brand to actively work with young food creators and talents, well before the new market trends. Such relationship grew over time and is now consolidated thanks to the new top five creators selected to “co-create” the project. Zenzero Talent Agency.

A significant change of approach to the marketing influencer setting, where the creators are for the first time allowed not only to establish a commercial relationship with an agency, but to actively take part in its development as founding fathers.

The new agency, specialised in the food industry, boasts Daniele Rossi, the Tuscan chef with modern and refined culinary skills linked to local traditions, Cookergirl, the “red apron” girl with a passion for cooking and experimenting, Diletta Secco, the refined, cheerful and spontaneous storyteller always attentive to the environment and healthy eating, Rosy Chin, the chef and entrepreneur who blends traditions with innovations and Luisa Orizio, Giallozafferano’s number one food blogger, among its co-founders.

The Agency’s offer

Zenzero exclusively manages 20 exceptional talents: not only the co-founding creators themselves, but also some of the most renowned and original culinary talents, as well as several emerging figures of growing relevance in the field at different levels of engagement.

The new food agency is the point of contact of an extraordinary hub of creators – relying on a total of 20 million followers, 200 million video views and beyond 10 million interactions a month. The brand has a dual work objective, working on the growth of its talents to enhance their distinctive positioning on one hand and interpreting the needs of businesses to build communication strategies with effective languages bound to also reach the new generations on the other.

Zenzero will become a new point of reference for the food industry, also thanks to its name which is closely linked to GialloZafferano‘s. Zenzero, or ginger, is a fresh and original ingredient that is much appreciated by those who love to experiment in the kitchen or to add a crisp and natural touch to their preparations, just like the Agency’s soul.

Alessandra Rigolio, a young manager with much experience in the media and already Mondadori’s Marketing Director, will lead Zenzero as its CEO, and Gabriele Colasanto, Mondadori Media’s Food Department Manager as its president. The two will be assisted by Luigi D’Alterio, Sales Director of both Zenzero and Hej, and Nicole Cavallo, the Head Talent Manager who will combine marketing and creative management strategies for the customised projects of each talent.

“We are proud to launch a one of a kind and innovative reality such as Zenzero, and to take one more step towards the continuous strategy of evolution that has always distinguished Giallozafferano. In recent years, our brand has always focused on the social media channels and creators, considering them both as essential elements of its success strategy, in particular on Instagram and Tik Tok. With Zenzero, we’ll be able to provide our partners with both a new media solution and creators capable of satisfying their needs with projects bound to generate real value. Our trump card is the relationship we build with our talents: we work with them at every step of the way, invest in their growth and always provide the market with contents that are in line with the new trends and languages,” stated Alessandra Rigoglio, Zenzero’s CEO.

This turnkey offer and one of a kind strategy, consisting of many tricks of the communications world, along with the know-how of a partner such as One Shot Agency, an Italian agency operating in digital management and communications for years, will be supervised by the team’s account manager Daniele Tozzi.

“As far as our group is concerned, Zenzero consolidates our experience in the management of talents and represents a new ambitious and specialised challenge bound to become a point of reference for the marketing influencer strategies of the food sector. The focal point lying in its ability to manage and develop creators of undisputed talent and who have a unique way of influencing the market,” stated Matteo Maffucci, co-founder of One Shot Agency. “Together with Zenzero, we studied a formula intended to transform these projects into a brand experience through a story adapted to the brands and services of the food industry and to their values, talents and social audience.”

Zenzero’s creators

In addition to the five founders, Zenzero already has many creators and talents, among which: Chef Nerone, a young cook from the Campania region who combines his love for his land with spontaneity and improvisations: 2foodfitlovers, a social media couple with a passion for fitness and good food; Foodqood, third cooking tiktoker worldwide; Rossella pane e cioccolato, renowned for her exquisite contents; Valeria Ciccotti, of Vale cucina e fantasia, with her creative and simple recipes; Fernanda Michela Nicotra, of Il caldo sapore del sud, a native of Catania who loves traditional dishes and more; Monica Pannacci, of Ricette del cuore, promoter of simple, instinctive and zero waste type of cooking; Gessica Runcio, of Le ricette di Gessica, who alternates precious traditional family recipes to quick and easy to make dishes for all; Sebastian Fitarau, a refined chef with creative, light and tasty suggestions; Nonna Nella, the most social Italian grandma who conquered TikTok and the heart of food lovers; Cuori Veggie, with a simple and quick veggie-based cuisine; Aurora Cortopassi, Giovanni Castaldi and Manuel Saraceno,Giallozafferano‘s three renowned faces. These talents are capable of igniting a passion for cooking among all Italian generations, by covering all tastes and languages across the platforms.

Zenzero’s seat will soon be inaugurated in Milan, right next to Giallozafferano’s: a creative hub in the city centre with spaces entirely devoted to the production of food creator projects, recording studios, sets and equipped kitchens, but also a place for organising events.

Zenzero will have a special team to support the talents in the design and implementation of their projects. The go to the market section will be launched thanks to Mediamond’s expertise and to its Brand on Solutions structure, to ensure the implementation of brand initiatives, contents and influencing.