Shooting Sports Retailer recently had the opportunity to chat with Jared Smith, general manager for Fiocchi USA, about the history of the company and its future in the U.S. market.

The company is refreshing itself after 140 years of heritage and investing itself heavily in expansion. Fiocchi believes lead-free ammo is a major factor in future markets and it’s taking steps to ensure that trend maintains performance at a reasonable price. While some think of Fiocchi as a shotgun ammo company, it actually has more in-production centerfire and metallic cartridges than shotgun shells

The brand has invested heavily in technology and research in its century of business, and is poised to be a tech leader for years to come.

SSR: How has the business changed over its long history?

Smith: The business evolved from black powder production into supplying cartridges for both World Wars. Fiocchi expanded its operations into the U.S., UK, New Zealand and Argentina over the last 30 years as their influence and reputation expanded. Fiocchi has led the world in lead-free primer technology and manufactures one of the only NATO-approved lead-free primers. In 2017, after 140 years and five generations of Fiocchi heritage, the company brought in a new ownership team that invested in expansion and focused on the U.S. market. This new team has brought clarity and focus to the North American market as the company’s products and marketing evolve along with its focus on the U.S. consumer.

SSR: Fiocchi is rooted in Italy with manufacturing facilities in other countries, including in Ozark, Missouri. What percentage of ammunition sold in the U.S. is made here?

JS: All our shotshells and all of our centerfire rifle ammunition that we service to the U.S. market are made in Ozark, Missouri. Fiocchi’s facility in Italy has a state-of-the-art 9mm production facility and we sell and distribute all our 9mm ball ammunition and various other classic calibers from Italy. If you need 5.75 Velodog or 7.5 Swiss Ordnance, Fiocchi is your choice.

SSR: Fiocchi is most often thought of as a shotgun shell company, but you’re much more than that. Tell us about some of your newer products.

JS: While that may be the case, Fiocchi produces a complete line of shotgun shell as well as centerfire cartridges. We have more production in centerfire and metallic cartridges than we do in shotgun shells. 

We are in the process of launching a new line of lead-free rifle and pistol — solid copper and reduced-ricochet copper — projectiles for the self-defense and law enforcement community using Fiocchi’s Zero Pollution primers. We are very excited about the Blue Guardian line of products that offers our consumers the highest-performance lead-free family of cartridges on the market.

SSR: What’s driving product development and the new push into the centerfire ammunition market?

JS: Fiocchi has supplied the NATO alliance in Europe and, most specifically, the U.S. Market with centerfire cartridges for over 20 years now. What we have not done is communicate the benefits of our cartridges to the consumer, nor have we effectively communicated our strengths and heritage of manufacturing the majority of our centerfire line here in the U.S.  

SSR: What lessons learned in the premium shotshell market are you applying to the centerfire market?

JS: We learned that you have to tell the story, not just produce ammo. Effectively communicating the benefits and educating the consumer is not something we have done well on the centerfire side. We are getting better.

SSR: What differentiates Fiocchi from the competition?

JS: The U.S. ammunition manufacturing base produces excellent products as a standard. What differentiates Fiocchi is the technological innovation we bring with lead-free primers, 140 years of history, and the size and responsiveness as a company that makes us nimble to provide excellent service to our clientele. We react quickly to the needs of our customers and we make decisions quickly to expedite our response to our customers.

SSR: Where do you see the ammo market heading?

JS: Lead-free, and it will go premium as the cost of hunting and shooting grow in proportion to our wallets. Our goal is to help keep the cost down and drive quality and performance at a price the average consumer can afford, while utilizing technology to provide the best product for the evolving market.

SSR: How does Fiocchi support its dealers?

JS: As we grow, our goal is to effectively support the industry, supporting the dealer with as broad an offering as needed to service the different regionalities of our business. We do this through the full support of our distribution partners and local gun clubs/ranges. The dealer needs access to quick support and communication about our offerings and services. We are doing this through a new online portal for our dealers and representatives.

SSR: Are you doing anything special to help dealers push the new product lines?

JS: In the past four months we have launched a new website focused on customer/consumer benefits, evolved the brand and message of Fiocchi, built a dealer portal and trained our sales staff and our reps on new products to effectively communicate the strengths of the brand and the products. We will continue to find new ways to improve and deliver this to our dealers.

Learn more about Fiocchi’s history and products, and how to become a dealer, visit www.fiocchiusa.com or call 417-725-4118.