Oscar Farinetti was born in Alba. From 1978 to 1988 he worked in the food sector in his family's supermarkets. In 1989 he launched a chain of stores called Unieuro specializing in electrical goods and electronics. In 2003 he sold the company and went back to the food business. In 2004 he founded Eataly and took out a stake in many high-quality food and beverage companies. In 2008 he wrote Coccodé, a book on his marketing ideas. That same year his biography, Il mercante di utopie, written by Anna Sartorio, was published by Sperling & Kupfer. In 2011 he wrote 7 mosse per l'Italia, and in 2012 he wrote the essay devoted to "harmony" for Lezioni di cittadinanza, Edizioni Gruppo Abele.

Shigeru Hayashi was born in Shizuoka-ken, Japan. In 1982 he was worked in Milan for Suntory Ltd., since leaving college. He has spent long periods of time in Italy, at first as head of the Suntory restaurant in Milan, and later as Chief Representative. Thanks to his travels between Italy and Japan he is now one of the greatest connoisseurs of Italian food and wine. He has been awarded many prizes both in Italy and Japan, and has authored several publications. In 2005 he founded SoloItalia Co. Ltd. (Wine & Food Business Consulting). He has been chairman of Eataly Japan since 2009.