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Bolton Group
The Bolton Group is an Italian multinational company that produces and sells consumer goods, with the headquarter based in Milan, Italy.
The group's portfolio includes around 60 brands in the food (canned fish and meat, sauces), home care, personal care, adhesives and cosmetics sectors. As of 2025, the group employs about 11,000 people distributed across 55 offices, 17 production sites, 10 research and development laboratories and 11 fishing vessels worldwide.
The origins of the Bolton group date back to the creation of Exportex, a distribution company focused on consumer goods, primarily imports. The company was founded in Milan in 1949 by Joseph Nissim, a Greek-born Jewish immigrant to Italy. Born in 1919, Nissim fled Thessaloniki when the Nazis invaded Greece. After escaping, he joined the British Army and fought with distinction at the battle of El Alamein. In 1947, he moved to Italy.
Over the years, the business evolved into one of the largest Italian distribution companies for domestic and foreign consumer goods producers; Exportex was the exclusive distributor in Italy for foreign companies and brands, such as the American Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark (personal care), and the British Beecham Group (pharmaceutical products).
In 1960 Nissim acquired ICIS (Industria Carni in Scatola Italian for "Canned Meat Industry"), a client company of Exportex based in Cermenate that produced canned meat under the Manzotin brand. Renamed Trinity Alimentari in 1965, it diversified its activity with the launch of canned tuna production under the brand Rio Mare, which would become the company’s flagship.
By 1971 Exportex was present throughout Italy with branches and warehouses in Bari, Bologna, Catania, Florence, Oristano, Naples, Padua, Pioltello, Rome and Turin. In the 1970s the company was also active in the chemical and household care sector through its subsidiary Nisco Chemical Italia. In 1978, Trinity began its international expansion with the marketing of Rio Mare tuna in Greece, laying the foundation for the subsequent creation of a Greek subsidiary.
Following the growth of the business, in 1978 a company named Bolton Group B.V. was established in Amsterdam, whose reference shareholder was Nissim. In 1980 the Milan branch was opened and in 1981 Bolton took control of Exportex and Trinity.
The newly established group also took control of a 49% stake in Beecham Italia, of which Nissim was CEO, a subsidiary of the British pharmaceutical multinational Beecham Group. The company operated in the Segrate plant, where it employed more than 200 workers, and produced personal care and hygiene products, including toothpaste under the Aquafresh brand. It was fully sold to Beecham in 1992.
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Bolton Group
The Bolton Group is an Italian multinational company that produces and sells consumer goods, with the headquarter based in Milan, Italy.
The group's portfolio includes around 60 brands in the food (canned fish and meat, sauces), home care, personal care, adhesives and cosmetics sectors. As of 2025, the group employs about 11,000 people distributed across 55 offices, 17 production sites, 10 research and development laboratories and 11 fishing vessels worldwide.
The origins of the Bolton group date back to the creation of Exportex, a distribution company focused on consumer goods, primarily imports. The company was founded in Milan in 1949 by Joseph Nissim, a Greek-born Jewish immigrant to Italy. Born in 1919, Nissim fled Thessaloniki when the Nazis invaded Greece. After escaping, he joined the British Army and fought with distinction at the battle of El Alamein. In 1947, he moved to Italy.
Over the years, the business evolved into one of the largest Italian distribution companies for domestic and foreign consumer goods producers; Exportex was the exclusive distributor in Italy for foreign companies and brands, such as the American Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark (personal care), and the British Beecham Group (pharmaceutical products).
In 1960 Nissim acquired ICIS (Industria Carni in Scatola Italian for "Canned Meat Industry"), a client company of Exportex based in Cermenate that produced canned meat under the Manzotin brand. Renamed Trinity Alimentari in 1965, it diversified its activity with the launch of canned tuna production under the brand Rio Mare, which would become the company’s flagship.
By 1971 Exportex was present throughout Italy with branches and warehouses in Bari, Bologna, Catania, Florence, Oristano, Naples, Padua, Pioltello, Rome and Turin. In the 1970s the company was also active in the chemical and household care sector through its subsidiary Nisco Chemical Italia. In 1978, Trinity began its international expansion with the marketing of Rio Mare tuna in Greece, laying the foundation for the subsequent creation of a Greek subsidiary.
Following the growth of the business, in 1978 a company named Bolton Group B.V. was established in Amsterdam, whose reference shareholder was Nissim. In 1980 the Milan branch was opened and in 1981 Bolton took control of Exportex and Trinity.
The newly established group also took control of a 49% stake in Beecham Italia, of which Nissim was CEO, a subsidiary of the British pharmaceutical multinational Beecham Group. The company operated in the Segrate plant, where it employed more than 200 workers, and produced personal care and hygiene products, including toothpaste under the Aquafresh brand. It was fully sold to Beecham in 1992.