How Italy’s Modiano keeps playing its cards right in an age of digital distraction
The Trieste-based card manufacturer is playing the long game – and it seems to be paying off.
Drop in on any beach bar in Italy and you will spot a recurring cast of characters: tanned and concentrating, dedicated cardplayers sit around a shaded table that they will barely leave all entire afternoon.
Cardplaying is not only a seaside activity: from social clubs to neighbourhood bars, parks and ferry-terminal queues, Italians love to whip out a deck and get stuck into one of their favourite games – be it briscola, scopa, scala quaranta or canasta – using cards that, like the country’s traditions, look different from region to region. Teenagers are also increasingly keeping packs at the ready to kill time, rather than giving in to the lure of their phones. “In this hyper-connected but disconnected world, card games engage the mind and are enjoyed with other people,” says Stefano Crechici, the president of Modiano, the Trieste-based company that manufactures about half of the nation’s decks. “You could also play cards on your computer but it’s about being present with your team-mates. You get to know people’s strengths and weaknesses; their character.”
Modiano started out in 1868 producing cigarette papers and expanded into lithographs, posters and eventually the playing cards beloved by Trieste’s dock workers. During the Habsburg era, the city was an important trading hub: Modiano’s products travelled as far as India; the company had factories in Budapest and Rijeka.
Today, half of its €10m turnover comes from exports, including to Greece, Central Europe and the United States. Casinos across the globe use Modiano cards and the company is the World Series of Poker’s official supplier. Playing cards’ popularity increased during the pandemic and they are still the company’s main focus. But over the years, Modiano has also started printing Tarot cards and personalised decks. Making the cards that are used in a number of popular board games has also shown the company that screen-free pastimes are on the up. “Playing has always been part of human life,” says Crechici. “The more immediate a game, the more successful it is.”
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