Unigrains Italia: consolidated its bakery ingredients channel

Milan / IT. (uni) The shareholders of CPC Food Srl, Eurodolce Srl, Marper Srl, Nuova-Neue Serpan Srl, backed by Unigrains Italia, the Italian subsidiary of Europe’s leading agri-food investor, Unigrains, in June 2023 have established «Vivaldi Group», a new Italian leader in the distribution of ingredients and semi-finished products for bakeries, pastry shops, ice cream parlors, for the Hotel-Restaurant-Catering, Retail and Cafeteria channels. «Vivaldi» is composed of four geographically complementary family-owned SMEs:

  • CPC Food, led by Luciano Volpi, covers Emilia-Romagna and in particular Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna and Forlì-Cesena
  • Eurodolce, led by the Raris and Forte families, covers Veneto and part of Friuli Venezia Giulia and in particular Treviso, Belluno, Venice and Pordenone
  • Marper, led by Matteo Marastoni and Eliano Peretti, covers Veneto and Lombardy, in particular Verona and Brescia
  • Nuova-Neue Serpan, led by the Brentari, Endrizzi + Albasini families, covers Trentino-Alto-Adige and in particular Trento and Bolzano

Together, «Vivaldi» Group employs 83 people including a sales team of 39 professionals across 12 provinces. It benefits from a major logistical network comprising a fleet of 41 vehicles and numerous storage facilities with over 7 000m2 available including 3 000m2 of refrigerated pallet space. The entrepreneurs of all 4 companies have significantly reinvested in this project and will managerially support the growth and development of «Vivaldi» Group, which boasts aggregated sales of over 40 million euros.

«Vivaldi» Group benefits from the financial and strategic support of Unigrains Italia, the Milan-based subsidiary of Europe’s leading agri-food investor, Unigrains. Unigrains Italia is a responsible, long-term sector-specialized investor in the capital of mid-sized Italian agri-food companies. It’s ambition over 5 years is to invest EUR M 80 to EUR M 100, directly and via equity capital in a dozen companies all across the agri-food value chain in order to support their development projects through organic/external growth, internationalization or shareholder transitions, always in close proximity alongside management teams.

Luciano Volpi, Board Member of «Vivaldi» and MD CPC Food: «This transaction represents an important milestone both for CPC Food and for the growth of the sector. I am confident that this Group will be able to support greater investments, attract external resources, ensure and guarantee greater quality.»

Armando Raris, Board Member of «Vivaldi» Group and Managing Director of Eurodolce: «This transaction will allow our company to start a new phase of growth through geographical expansion, product innovation and an adapted and flexible offer to best meet the needs of our customers.»

Matteo Marastoni, Board Member of «Vivaldi» and Managing Director of Marper: «Today is a historic moment for us, this path that we have undertaken together leads us to become one of the leading operators in our sector and strengthens our growth plans, proximity to customers and suppliers.»

Silvano Brentari, Board Member of «Vivaldi» Group and Managing Director of Nuova-Neue Serpan: «Today we are taking an ambitious step with the help of a financial partner specialized in the agri-food sector that will support us in our growth path both internally and externally.»

Francesco Orazi, GM Unigrains Italia: «We have long observed the distribution sector of products for the professional catering sector, detecting a strong potential for consolidation and benefiting customers and suppliers alike. The creation of «Vivaldi» represents a unique opportunity to invest and support four successful SMEs with complementary markets, geographies, product ranges and positioning, and to help them develop commercial, distribution and supply synergies. It is a perfect example of our philosophy, and we are delighted that it is the first investment of our new investment vehicle.»