An investment plan of 86.6 million euros which affects 7 Italian plants of the Group plus the headquarters, with the possibility of intercepting funds from the Pnrr and other state allocations, as well as an important use of own resources. A plan built on some strategic assets: technological innovation, increased product quality, process efficiency, energy saving, environmental sustainability, digitalisation. It is the road to the future that Conserve Italia has traced until 2026 and which it has already begun to implement with the first interventions; a path of growth and development illustrated this morning during the Shareholders' Meeting held in the auditorium of the headquarters in San Lazzaro di Savena, just outside Bologna. Around 150 people attended, mainly farmers and managers representing the 39 cooperatives at the base of the Consortium specialized in the production of fruit juices, tomato preserves and vegetable preserves under the Valfrutta, Cirio, Yoga, Derby Blue and Jolly Colombani brands.

The Conserve Italia Shareholders' Meeting also approved the budget for the 2022-23 financial year (closed on 30 June 2023). The consolidated turnover of the Group (made up of the parent company Conserve Italia and 8 other subsidiaries) amounts to 1.14 billion euros, an increase of 18% compared to the previous year and with a profit of 7.2 million euros. The consolidated net financial position stands at 120 million euros, constantly improving for over 15 years in which it has reduced by over 350 million euros. The positive Ebitda result is equal to 74 million euros, by virtue of important interventions to rationalize structural costs.

“This budget is inevitably affected by the sharp increase in costs of all production factors which influenced the increase in turnover and which we have tried to manage as best as possible by promoting a fair distribution between all the subjects involved in the supply chain. With a great spirit of responsibility, we have absorbed part of these increases to safeguard our Italian producer members and to protect the final consumer – declared the president of Conserve Italia Maurizio Gardini during his speech -. The positive numbers in the balance sheet consolidate the corporate structure in its financial and equity aspects, confirming our role as an irreplaceable reference for Italian agriculture. Great attention - added the president - was in fact reserved for the agricultural production mainly contributed by our cooperator members, for which we liquidated 95 million euros. A significant sum aimed at supporting the activity of agricultural companies which in the last year, especially in Emilia-Romagna where the majority of our social base is concentrated, have been heavily damaged by catastrophic climatic events such as floods, late frosts and hailstorms" .

“The investment plan presents a series of interventions that affect the 7 main Italian production plants (Pomposa, Barbiano, Massa Lombarda, Ravarino, Alseno, Albinia and Mesagne) and the San Lazzaro headquarters, where a photovoltaic system will be installed; the planned actions will lead us to make our production processes more efficient and sustainable in terms of water saving and reduced atmospheric emissions – underlined the general director of Conserve Italia Pier Paolo Rosetti -. With these investments, which amount to 86.6 million euros and must be made by 2026, we intend to better equip ourselves to face both the ecological transition and the digital transition. In particular, interventions are planned in industrial tomato concentration activities, with the introduction of new production processes that significantly improve the quality of the product and allow significant energy savings. The automation of packaging and warehousing processes, as well as the creation of a new automatic warehouse, will allow for greater efficiency in logistics activities and also to cope with the lower availability of manpower that we have been experiencing for some years. Furthermore, the investment plan will allow us to improve our production capacity."