Shaken and Stirred: Martini & Rossi and the Cycles of Globalization

Abstract

This article draws from Martini & Rossi’s archives to trace the company’s history from its beginnings in Piedmont, Italy, in the mid-nineteenth century to its global expansion in the twentieth century. Martini & Rossi shaped cocktail culture globally, and its history sheds light on how entrepreneurs and firms prospered through cycles of globalization and deglobalization. Just as skilled management and new technologies facilitated vermouth production at home, innovations in salesmanship allowed the company to penetrate new markets abroad. The article highlights how Martini & Rossi emerged as a pioneering multinational and created one of the first global alcohol brands during the first era of global capitalism. It also examines the strategies firms could adopt amid increasing protectionism following the onset of the Great War in 1914, adding nuance to our understanding of how macroeconomic processes of globalization and deglobalization are experienced and navigated by individual companies.