"We are surrounded by supermarkets."
The Mercato Rionale di Baggio, a food market in Milan's Biaggo neighborhood, located in the city's western suburbs, was founded in 1953. Things have changed since then – a little, but not too much. Particularly in the 90s when supermarkets started to open rampantly, prompting small neighborhood markets to change course and reinvent themselves. Vendors started to focus on the quality of their products. "I've been coming here for years because there's genuine stuff because the shopkeepers choose the best for us," says a regular customer whom everyone calls by name.
But while quality helps, it's not the only reason to visit a neighborhood market – people are waiting for you, ready to give you immediate advice and, above all, tailored to the person in front of them each time. "We're all food consultants!" jokes Thomas Pellegrini, the young cheesemaker.
And he's right because this is what still makes the difference and distinguishes a neighborhood market from large retailers where, Thomas continues, “you often enter with headphones on, shopping list in hand and leave without having spoken to anyone.”
At the Baggio market, then, the human side is even more evident. It is located in the heart of those few neighborhoods in Milan that can still be defined as such, where people know each other and greet each other on the street, where they often call each other by name. Even more so during the recent lockdown period, when many have rediscovered neighborhood life.
"And to think that some people who live behind here had never realized we existed!" exclaims Stefano Pellegrini, father of Thomas and manager of the cooperative of which the market is part. So, let us introduce you to some of the characters behind the 14 shops that animate the Baggio market from 8:30 a.m. every day.
Browse the photo gallery for a glimpse of the personalities behind this Milan food market
Photography: Alberto Bernasconi