Honest comparison
Delta Novel or Savino Del Bene? Two Italian answers to the same belief.
Both companies hold that the human element is pivotal. The difference is what we built around ours: live rates, a copilot and online booking — not a contact form.
Savino Del Bene is the Italian giant of this industry: forwarding freight from Florence since 1899, and today — by their own numbers — around 323 offices in 60 countries, 6,400 people and €2.9 billion in revenue. Their vision statement says something we find genuinely admirable: even as the sector digitalises, the human element must remain pivotal. And their website is consistent with that belief — there is no instant quote anywhere, and every route to a price ends at a request-information form.
Delta Novel agrees with the premise and questions the conclusion. We are Italian too — Ravenna, since 1998 — and every file here ends at a named operator, with an in-house Italian customs desk behind it. But we built the platform anyway: live FCL, LCL and air rates on covered lanes, bookable online, a copilot that answers about your shipments in about thirty seconds, one portal for booking, tracking and documents. People being pivotal is not an argument against the platform. It is what the platform is for.
Side by side
| Delta Novel | Savino Del Bene | |
|---|---|---|
| Live rates you can book online | Yes — live FCL, LCL and air search on covered lanes, bookable online | No — every route to a rate ends at a request-information form |
| AI copilot on your shipments | Answers in about thirty seconds, then hands off to a named Ravenna operator | None — tracking and reports through the My SDB portal |
| The human element | Pivotal here too — a named operator behind every file | Pivotal by declared vision, and they mean it |
| Offices around the world | Ravenna plus a correspondent network on the lanes that matter to you | Far larger — 323 offices in 60 countries, their numbers |
| Industry vertical depth | Eight freight services, from LCL groupage to project cargo | Deeper — dedicated teams from wine to pharmaceuticals |
When Savino Del Bene is the right choice
If your program needs your forwarder's own offices on five continents, dedicated vertical teams from fashion to pharmaceuticals, and the shoulders of a €2.9 billion group, Savino Del Bene is a natural choice — the biggest Italian name in this industry, and not by accident. We would rather tell you that than win a file we are not the best home for.
Questions people ask
Are Delta Novel and Savino Del Bene in the same category?
Both are Italian international forwarders, and both believe the person on the file matters more than anything. The difference is scale and model: Savino Del Bene is a group of 6,400 people across some 60 countries; Delta Novel is Ravenna since 1998, with a platform — live rates, booking, tracking, copilot — built around a named operator and in-house Italian customs.
Can I get a rate without filling in a contact form?
Here, yes. The rate search returns live FCL, LCL and air rates on covered lanes, bookable online. On savinodelbene.com there is no instant quote — no rate calculator, no self-serve booking; asking for a price means filling in a request-information form (as of August 2026). When one of our lanes is not covered, a forwarder answers within one business day.
Doesn't a platform make the service less human?
We think the opposite, and this is where we respectfully differ from Savino Del Bene's vision. The copilot answers the routine questions — where is my container, which document is missing — in about thirty seconds, so the operator in Ravenna spends the day on the calls that actually need a person. People stay pivotal; they just stop being the search bar.
If you agree the human element is pivotal, try the version where a platform works for it. A live rate takes thirty seconds; the named operator, one shipment.
Get an instant rateSavino Del Bene facts from savinodelbene.com as of August 2026. Savino Del Bene is a trademark of its owner; Delta Novel is independent and unaffiliated.
All company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners, used here for identification only. Delta Novel is independent and unaffiliated. Competitor information comes from each company’s own public website as of August 2026 and may change.