Little Italy

What Little Italy does

Little Italy Ltd is a Dublin-headquartered, family-owned Italian food and wine importer, distributor and retailer that has operated continuously since 1976. From purpose-built premises at 139a/140 North King Street in the Smithfield area of Dublin 7, the company supplies Irish consumers and the foodservice trade with an Italian product catalogue spanning wine, pasta, oils and vinegars, sauces, cheese and charcuterie, baking, snacks, desserts, baby food, truffles, and specialty-diets (gluten-free, lactose-free, vegan) lines, totalling 963 SKUs across 22 gift/hamper items, 18 wine gifts, and three Wine of the Month selections. Following the deaths of founders Sylvester Rabbitte (2020) and Anna Senezio (1996), the business is now managed by the second generation: Bettina Rabbitte as Managing Director and Marisa Rabbitte as co-owner, with 11-50 employees and no external equity or venture capital involvement disclosed. Distribution combines a physical Smithfield showroom, a Shopify-powered e-commerce storefront, an own-fleet Dublin delivery capability, DPD courier nationwide coverage within Ireland (€9.25 per package up to 30kg), and the Unify wholesale ordering portal for B2B customers (hotels, cafes, restaurants, delicatessens, gourmet shops); credit terms are available after a registration/credit-application process, with cash-on-delivery as a starting basis. The primary customer segments are split between B2B foodservice and retail buyers requiring authentic Italian product range and B2C consumers (general public plus the Dublin Italian diaspora) using either the online store or the in-person shop, with revenue generated via unit-price retail markup on one-off transactions and transactional wholesale pricing. Active brand-building is supported through presence at major Irish food festivals (Taste of Dublin, Catex, Love Italian Life, Eatyard) and a six-channel social media presence; UK delivery was suspended post-Brexit, narrowing the served geography to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Name

Little Italy

Legal name

Little Italy Ltd

Website

https://littleitalyltd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Little Italy Ltd is a Dublin-based, family-owned Italian food and wine importer, distributor and retailer founded in 1976, serving Irish consumers and B2B foodservice customers through a Shopify e-commerce store, a Smithfield retail shop and a nationwide delivery network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Italian Specialty Food & Wine Distribution

NAICS

Specialty Food Retailers (4452), Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411), Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)

akta.pro primary industry

Mediterranean/Greek/Italian/Spanish Grocery Stores (CRAHAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ethnic/International Bulk & Wholesale Grocers (CRAHAMAE), Specialty Wine-Adjacent Food Stores (Cheese/Gourmet Pairings) (CRAHAGAK)

Keywords

• Italian food importer
• Italian wine distributor
• Specialty grocery retail
• Wholesale food supply
• Artisan Italian products

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. E-commerce Retail Sales: Retail e-commerce sales of fine Italian food and wine products directly to consumers through their Shopify-powered online store. Customers can purchase individual items or bulk quantities with nationwide delivery.
2. Wholesale Distribution: Wholesale distribution of Italian food and wine products to hotels, cafes, restaurants, delicatessens and gourmet shops. New wholesale customers can start trading on cash on delivery basis or apply for credit terms.
3. Retail Shop Sales: Physical retail shop at North King Street, Dublin 7 serving the general public, Italian community, and walk-in wholesale customers with in-store shopping experience.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Little Italy imports and distributes a catalog of 963 Italian food and wine products — spanning wine, pasta, oils and vinegars, sauces, cheese, cured meats, baking ingredients, drinks, snacks, desserts, and specialty-diet items — selling them to individual consumers through its Dublin retail shop and Shopify-powered online store, and to hospitality and specialty retail businesses through a B2B wholesale program with credit terms and its own delivery fleet.

Product overview

Little Italy is a single unified e-commerce retail platform specializing in Italian food and wine, powered by Shopify. The core offering consists of an extensive portfolio of Italian imported food products organized into categories: Wine (Red, White, Rosé, Sparkling, Dessert), Groceries (Pasta with 134+ varieties, Oils & Vinegars, Sauces & Condiments including 51 pasta sauces and 70 tomato products), Cheese & Charcuterie (cured meats, fresh cheeses, Mozzarella & Burrata), Baking Products, Drinks (juices, liqueurs, soft drinks, water), Savoury Snacks, Desserts & Sweet Treats (biscuits, chocolate, sweets), Equipment (Moka pots, pizza equipment), and Specialty Diets (144+ Gluten Free, Lactose Free, Vegan products). Add-on modules include Hampers & Gifts (22 gift boxes), Wine Gifts (18 wine gift sets), Wine of the Month (3 featured wines), and Special Offers (7 discounted items). The company also operates a wholesale program for B2B customers including hotels, cafés, restaurants, and delicatessens, with centralized stock-holding and own delivery fleet. With 963 total products in their catalog, they serve both retail consumers via their Smithfield-based shop and online platform, and wholesale customers throughout Ireland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Italian Wine

Quantifiable outcome

• 963 products available across multiple Italian food and wine categories
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UnifycoreTechnology or IntegrationPreferred ordering platform for wholesale customers to easily place orders and manage their accounts with Little Italy. Free and easy-to-use system for B2B trading partners.
• DPDcoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary courier partner for nationwide deliveries in Ireland (Republic and Northern Ireland). Provides online track and trace, insurance, and signature upon delivery service for packages up to 30kg.
• PayPalcoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processing partner for secure online transactions. Industry-leading payment processor with staff having no access to customer payment details.
• ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationE-commerce platform powering the Little Italy online store with integrated shopping cart, product catalog, and payment processing capabilities.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Tesco Ireland: Mass-market grocery multiple in Ireland carrying an expanding Italian range including own-label premium tiers. Competes directly with Little Italy's B2C shelf on everyday Italian groceries and price-sensitive consumers.
• Musgrave Group: Ireland's largest grocery wholesaler and franchise operator (SuperValu, Centra). Comparable as a wholesale partner and competitor; broad incumbent that buys imported Italian lines at scale and competes with Little Italy on retail shelf access.

Direct peers

• Sheridans Cheesemongers: Long-established Irish specialty cheese and cured-meat retailer with shops and wholesale supply to foodservice. Overlaps with Little Italy on cheese/charcuterie wholesale, Italian sourcing and Dublin-based foodservice accounts.
• Fallon & Byrne: Dublin gourmet food hall and online retailer offering a curated mix of Irish and international specialty food and wine. Highly comparable omni-channel model (physical store + nationwide e-commerce) and overlapping premium Italian, cheese, charcuterie and wine ranges targeting the same Dublin foodie consumer.
• Avoca: Irish multi-channel specialty food and lifestyle retailer with physical stores, online ordering and gift/hampers lines. Comparable curated specialty food assortment, gifting emphasis and direct-to-consumer + corporate gifting model.
• GreenMan Wines: Independent Irish wine importer and online retailer focused on small-producer European wines. Comparable on wine importing, curation and direct-to-consumer e-commerce, though narrower in food range than Little Italy.
• O'Briens Wine: Ireland's largest specialist wine retailer with nationwide shop network and online sales. Directly comparable on the wine side of Little Italy's business — same B2C omni-channel pattern, similar curated Italian/international wine positioning.
• Sheridans (Wholesale / Foodservice arm): Sheridans' wholesale and foodservice business supplying Italian cheese and cured meats to Irish restaurants and delis directly overlaps Little Italy's wholesale motion, customer base (hotels/cafes/delicatessens) and product mix.
• Donnybrook Fair: Dublin-based gourmet food retailer and caterer supplying premium food to households and events. Comparable specialty positioning, gifting/hampers offering, and small-batch foodservice supply model in the same Dublin catchment.

Regional players

• Donatello Foods: Long-established Italian food importer and distributor supplying UK foodservice and retailers. Comparable as a fellow Italian-specialist importer/wholesaler operating across a different geography (UK), useful for benchmarking category economics.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Littleitalyltd
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCMDalOz3XzuwQ-mrYVAcccg
• Facebookfacebook.com/Little.Italy.Ltd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/little-italy-ltd?trk=nav_account_sub_nav_company_admin
• Instagraminstagram.com/littleitalydublin
• Pinterestpinterest.com/littleitalyltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Little Italy