The Italian dairy group Granarolo has acquired Calabro Cheese Corp. It is a U.S. company based in Connecticut, specializing in the production and marketing of fresh dairy products. Above all ricotta, mozzarella, and burrata.
In 2020, consolidated sales realized by Calabro Cheese Corp. were approximately $25 million, in line with previous years despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
CALABRO CHEESE CORP.
Calabro Cheese Corp. was founded in 1953 as a distributor of Italian dairy products by Joseph Calabro and his father Salvatore. It has a modern production facility of over 5,000 square feet and a distribution platform from which the areas of New York, New England, New Jersey, as well as the southern and western United States, are served.
Today Calabro is recognized as one of the top fresh cheese producers in the United States. In fact, it has ranked four of its products in the top positions of the American Cheese Society. The acquisition will also allow Granarolo to build a strategic platform to distribute a wide range of typical and PDO products, including aged cheeses, from Italy.
EXPORT SALES
For Granarolo, in 2020 exports accounted for 33% of total sales, steadily increasing from one year to the next. The Italian company is one of the main players in the exports of Italian dairy products in the world, with an average growth in its share of +0.4% (in volume). It currently sells 8.8% of total Italian dairy products worldwide. The United States had been a target country for some time, but the pandemic has slowed down the timing of this acquisition. Granarolo’s 2021-2025 strategic plan includes other acquisitions, focused on dairy producers in strategic markets.
“The consolidation of Granarolo in the United States is an important piece of the group’s growth strategy,” says the Italian company’s chairman, Gianpiero Calzolari. “The goal is to replicate the positive performance achieved in other markets, such as France where we have grown significantly reaching a volume share of 18.5% of total sales of Italian dairy products. The United States will be our target country in 2022”.
Frank Angeloni, the president of Calabro Cheese, comments, “We are convinced that the synergistic work of the two teams can help grow the business in the United States. Granarolo has a huge portfolio of high-quality PDO products manufactured in Italy that will complement Calabro’s fresh cheese offerings. Granarolo has repeatedly demonstrated great determination and capacity for innovation; these are two essential factors for those who want to operate in the American market”.