Bonduelle invests 10 million euros in Italian plants

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Bonduelle will invest 10 million euros in Italy over the next three years. The French company, which has the largest European plant for fresh-cut products in San Paolo d’Argon, in the province of Bergamo, wants to increase the automation of its plants, but also reduce their environmental impact: « Upstream and downstream of the production lines – explains Federico Odella, CEO of Bonduelle Italia – we will install robotic systems for the loading and unloading of raw materials and for the final management of the bags. In our two Italian plants, one in the Bergamo area and the one in Battipaglia in Campania, we process 180 million envelopes a year». The new investments will also increase the environmental sustainability of the plants: “On the roofs of both plants – explains the CEO – we will mount photovoltaic panels that will allow us to produce 1 Giga of electricity each, equal to 15% of our needs”.

Attention to green performance has just earned Bonduelle Italia the B Corp certification: «Italy – says Odella – is the first European reality of the group to have obtained this certification of the company’s social and environmental performance». Our country represents an important share of the French group’s business: it accounts for 10% of world turnover and in the bagged salad sector it is the first country in Europe in terms of volume and value.

In the last two years, Bonduelle Italia has reduced CO2 emissions by 9%, water consumption by 12% and energy consumption by 9%, while 100% of the packaging has become recyclable. Among the future objectives of environmental sustainability that the company has set itself are the reduction of 38% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 and the abandonment of the use of plastic of virgin fossil origin by 2030. Furthermore, within 7 years 80% of farmers supplying raw materials will be engaged in regenerative agriculture, while 100% of the cultivated area will use a protection plan for pollinating insects.

What about the EU directive on packaging, which risks wiping out the packaged salad segment from the market? Like all operators in the sector, Bonduelle is also worried: «for now it is a proposal – says Odella – we are confident that Brussels will modify it after listening to the sector’s doubts. The risk is to distance consumers from a healthy product, which by now we have become accustomed to consuming already washed. We can reduce the amount of plastic used, we can increase the recycled share, but there is no other technology than plastic, if we want to guarantee the food safety of the product».