Nazionale turns amaro and limoncello into foosball-player bottles — ADC Best of Packaging

Nazionale Spirito Italiano began with a bartender's ambition. Alfonso Califano, co-founder of the internationally ranked bar Cinquanta, asked Florence design studio Auge Design to reinterpret amaro and limoncello as premium, contemporary spirits. Instead of heritage clichés, the team anchored the brand in the foosball table — the social heart of the traditional Italian bar — and let the bottles become players in that game.

The execution turns one metaphor into a complete system: the bottle silhouette is a stylized foosball figure, red for Amaro Nazionale and blue for Limoncello Nazionale; the custom spherical cap acts as the ball and player head; the shaped front label forms the body; a die-cut emblem recalls the plaques on real foosball players; the circular back label reads as the ball; and Fasson cotton label paper, printed and finished by Modulgraf, gives the pack a raw, tactile craft feel.

The concept traveled from barroom joke to award podium. At ADC's 104th Annual Awards the range took Best of Packaging Design, it won a Pentawards Gold in Spirits Collection (Mixed) 2025, and Dieline named it Best of Beverage — proof that a playful, culturally specific idea could still read as luxury on the shelf and in high-end mixology.