Conserve Italia is celebrating its first fifty years by looking to the future of the Italian agri-food industry, starting in Pomposa, near Ferrara, where it officially unveiled the "Pomposa Smart Factory," symbolizing the cooperative group's new production model. The event also served as an opportunity to announce the completion of the 2023-2026 investment plan, an €86,9 million program involving seven Italian plants and the headquarters in San Lazzaro di Savena, with over half of the resources focused on the Pomposa production hub.
The Ferrara plant has been transformed into a truly smart factory thanks to the introduction of next-generation evaporators for tomatoes, automated intralogistics systems with self-guided shuttles, the expansion of the automated warehouse to 120 pallet spaces, and new areas dedicated to storing legumes and semi-finished products. At the same time, the group has invested in renovating its production lines and installing advanced technologies to improve quality, production capacity, and industrial flexibility, also focusing on the production of vacuum-packed single-serving legumes and the expansion of the lines dedicated to fine pulp and diced legumes.
According to President Maurizio Gardini, the project epitomizes the group's cooperative strategy: "We want to innovate to enhance the value of our members' raw materials and ensure the competitiveness of the Italian agri-food system." One of the key aspects of the plan is environmental sustainability. The implemented measures have reduced annual CO₂ emissions by approximately 12 tons compared to previous years, part of a broader program that has already led to a reduction of over 54 tons of emissions between 2019 and 2024.
The group now aims to increase the share of electricity from renewable sources to 42% and reduce a further 39 tons of CO₂ by 2027. General Manager Pier Paolo Rosetti underlined that the plan does not only represent a set of technological investments, but "a development model that aims to make the supply chain more efficient and sustainable".
At the heart of the industrial transformation is also the digitalization of production processes. Integrated management of manufacturing and logistics allows for real-time monitoring of industrial activities, improving control, safety, and energy efficiency. Chief Operating Officer Gabriele Brignani described the new production system as "a fundamental step toward an increasingly data-driven industrial model," thanks to the use of advanced technologies and automated systems capable of reducing consumption and emissions.
The Pomposa event also had a strong symbolic value, retracing the history of Conserve Italia, officially founded on May 24, 1976, from the union of fruit and vegetable cooperatives in Emilia-Romagna with the aim of strengthening the Italian supply chain through integrated production, processing, and marketing.
Today, the group is one of Europe's leading canning companies and continues to focus on its historic brands, from Cirio to Valfrutta, including Yoga, Derby Blue, and Jolly Colombani, while maintaining a strong connection to the cooperative model and the local community. The fiftieth anniversary celebrations will continue in the coming months with an open day scheduled for September and a major closing event at the end of the year for members, employees, institutions, and stakeholders.
