Intesa Sanpaolo: €1.5 billion for the dairy industry

Internationalization, growth, and the digital and energy transition are at the heart of Intesa Sanpaolo's efforts to increase the competitiveness of the Italian dairy supply chain. The bank is allocating an additional €1.5 billion to the sector. Cattozzi: "We are working to strengthen businesses by producing tangible benefits in terms of quality, including for consumers. This is in line with the objectives of the Agribusiness Department, which has provided over €12.4 billion in financing to agri-food SMEs in recent years."

Intesa Sanpaolo is allocating €1.5 billion in new credit for the dairy sector. This initiative is part of the efforts of the Banca dei Territori, led by Stefano Barrese, to accelerate investments in the Made in Italy agri-food supply chains. €10 billion in new credit has already been allocated, part of the €410 billion the group has earmarked for initiatives related to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). The initiative was announced in Brescia during the second edition of Agri-talk , a series of traveling meetings throughout the region, which previously focused on the wine sector in Florence. A meeting in Milan, focusing on the fruit and vegetable sector, is scheduled for December.

Within the agri -food supply chain, Italy ranks third in Europe in dairy production value, with nearly €28 billion, behind France and Germany. This is a significant achievement despite the much smaller company size: Italian dairy farms average approximately €9 million, compared to nearly €34 million in France and €58 million in Germany. In terms of product quality, Italy leaps to first place in Europe, tied with France, with 57 PDO and PGI certified cheeses. In the so-called PDO economy, cheese is the category that generates the highest value in Italy, with €5.5 billion in 2023.

In terms of employment , the sector employs 44,000 people in Italy (9.7% of the total national food and beverage industry workforce) and has 3,400 active companies. Dairy products and cheeses are the third largest Italian agri-food export sector , after wines and pasta and baked goods, with a turnover of €6.3 billion in 2024.

To boost these dairy production excellences, Intesa Sanpaolo has developed four key strategic pillars to stimulate investments in:

• Internationalization , to strengthen the presence of Italian dairy products on foreign markets, where the demand for PDO cheeses and dairy specialties continues to grow.
• Dimensional growth , through aggregation and partnership processes between producers, cooperatives and processing companies, essential for facing global competition and optimizing supply chains.
• Technological innovation and energy efficiency , with investments in new processing plants, digital traceability systems, and solutions to reduce water and energy consumption, in one of the sectors most exposed to energy and environmental costs, and with the utmost respect for animal welfare.
• Enhancement of quality and business continuity , to guarantee the distinctiveness of products, certification of origin and protection of PDOs.

The bank's support also aims to foster generational change and the transmission of know-how, essential elements for preserving the bond with the local area and consumer trust.

Among the companies contributing to the supply chain were Guglielmo Gennaro Auricchio, Export Manager and Head of Sustainability at Gennaro Auricchio, Ambrogio Invernizzi, President of Inalpi, and Giovanni Petrucci, Founder of Fratelli di Petrucci.

"The dairy supply chain, one of the most representative of Made in Italy, requires attention to how risk management and sustainable innovation are levers of development that must be further developed to maintain the prestige that Italian products enjoy worldwide. With this new €1.5 billion initiative for this supply chain, we are working to strengthen businesses by producing concrete benefits in terms of quality for consumers as well, in line with the plans of the Agribusiness Department, which in recent years has provided over €12.4 billion in financing to agri-food SMEs," said Massimiliano Cattozzi , Head of the Agribusiness Department of Intesa Sanpaolo's Banca dei Territori.

With 250 branches, including 95 specialized branches, and approximately 1,100 specialists, the Agribusiness Division, as a bank dedicated to agriculture, supports over 80,000 clients with targeted services for internationalization, sustainability, digital innovation, and generational transition. A revolving pledge on agri-food products with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status has also been available for the dairy industry for years. To date, this has allowed the Agribusiness Division to provide over €70 million in financial services for the divestment of aging food products such as aged cheese, wine, prosciutto, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.