Just four years after the sale to Generale Conserve, tomato brand De Rica changes its owner once again and passes to Consorzio Casalasco del Pomodoro (Casalasco tomato Consortium) – owner of Pomì brand based in Rivarolo del Re (Cremona). De Rica will return to Piacenza, where the brand was born – says Costantino Vaia, General Manager of Casalasco, in this interview with Italianfood.net. We have maintained in Italy this historic brand – adds Mr. Vaia – characterized by quality and experience, around which we are building a strategic project to enhance its potential. For the time being, Vaia doesn’t talk about the future layout of the newly acquired brand, which should be produced at the Gariga di Podenzano plant in the province of Piacenza. No mention as well about the price paid to Generale Conserve. De Rica is currently distributed in the Netherlands, UK, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the United States, where Casalasco is already present with a subsidiary that makes about 15 million dollars per year with Pomì products.
Not only tomato
De Rica brand will also be used for vegetable preserves and, probably, for ready sauces: a product that is increasingly appreciated in Italy, as well as overseas, for its service content. Price placement will surely be in the premium range, leaving Pomí in the lower one. In terms of market share, Casalasco will hold 6.7% of the Italian tomato paste market and 4.36% of the tomato pulp market. It should also be remembered that the Italian Minister of Agriculture Maurizio Martina has announced that transformed tomato products shall be subject to mandatory chain label traceability as already happens for pasta, rice and milk.
Figures
Casalasco Consortium closed 2016 with a net turnover of approximately 223 million euros, down slightly from 2015. EBITDA amounted to 25.9 million, accounting for 11.6% of turnover, while net debt at 31 December was 141.6 million. For 2017, the revenue target has been fixed at 260 million euros, thanks to the investments made possible by the capital increase of 15 million made by Simest.