About Us

Who we are

We believe that the moments shared between loved ones over a delicious meal, make the most cherished memories.

We offer mostly Italian food products, including wine, delicatessen and catering equipment as well as some Spanish, Argentinian and French offerings.

We are open to the public and to the food and beverage industry

History - A story of strong family ties

Adriatic Ship Supply & Trading Company was founded in 1970 by Renzo Reffo, who was later joined by his sons, Maurizio and Roberto Reffo.

The principal activity of the company was to supply ship-store to the foreign vessels calling at the port of Durban with a bonded warehouse; and was the exclusive to many important shipping lines.

Due to the introduction of containerization and the decline in the number of passenger ships calling at the port of Durban, the company decided to diversify its’ activities by moving into the importation and distribution of Italian Food and Wine products to the South African market. This met with great success.

The principal philosophy of only supplying high-quality products from leading Italian companies was established.

In 1983 the Reffo family decided to open a warehouse in Johannesburg to provide a more immediate service to what has become the most important market sector for the company.

Adriatic Caterings’ first venture was the importation of the La San Marco Coffee Machine Range, which was prompted by the relationship that Adriatic shared (and still shares) with Segafredo Zanetti - one of the leading producers of Espresso coffee in the world.

This endeavour proved to be very successful, and was consequently followed by the importation of IGF Pizza equipment. This was preceded by the Sirman range, whose extensive series of restaurant, bar and butchery equipment concluded another significant milestone in the Adriatic history.

The catering equipment offering has subsequently grown, and Adriatic now offers a wide range of these products.

Adriatic supplies professional catering equipment fully backed by its company principles and values. We offer specialised after-sales technical assistance from our trained technicians and a complete range of spare parts.

In 2010, Roberto Reffo joined his father Maurizio Reffo in running the Adriatic business. Shortly afterwards, Renzo Reffo, Maurizio's second son became involved in Adriatic.

Adriatic operates in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban with a distribution warehouse and sales force in each region.