The Italian preserves, sauces and canned food leading company Fratelli Polli SpA has acquired Valbona, another Italian vegetable preserves company. At the end of 2018, the latter had a turnover of 30 million euro and had 91 employees. The acquisition allows Polli to increase its turnover from 80 million in 2018 to 110 million in 2019, with a forecast of 130 million in 2021. The operation aims to increase the production capacity of Polli, starting a three-year plan (2019-21) which provides for an increase in turnover of 63% and volumes of 57%. Fratelli Polli takes over in particular the building of the production plant, the machinery, the warehouse of raw materials and finished products, the commercial contracts and all 91 employees of Valbona. At the end of the process, the group will have almost 300 employees.
FRATELLI POLLI ON FOREIGN MARKETS
“With this operation – declares Manuela Polli, the company’s Head of Strategy and Development – we aim at a leadership in the sector of vegetable preserves, being among the first companies in Italy in terms of turnover and employees, with a double-digit increase in production capacity, in particular for exports. The start of an internationalisation process with the establishment of commercial branches in the UK, Germany and France, and the opening of new distribution channels, together with a growth policy for internal and external lines, are part of our new development plan for the coming years”. Polli, a 147 years old company, is therefore increasingly focusing on international markets where it already collects 60% of sales driven by 60 million jars of canned goods on the shelves of supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury; it mainly produces pesto for their private labels.
MARCO FRACCAROLI IS THE NEW CEO
Marco Fraccaroli, new CEO of Fratelli Polli, has a proven experience in the food sector and a deep knowledge of international markets having held various positions in Italian companies in the sector. He has been chairman of Granarolo International and has directed some of the main companies of the group abroad. He began his career in management consulting and business organization, before joining Pastificio Rana as a manager, where he started his experience in the food sector.