Cirfood’s revenues grow by double digits but inflation weighs on the net result

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The first year of the 2022-2025 Strategic Plan of Cirfood, a leading cooperative in collective catering, commercial and welfare services, ends with a turnover of over 538 million euros (+13.1%), a result in line with the objectives of the plan, with group shareholders’ equity of 123.7 million. Last year was a key year in the activity of the cooperative which wanted to give a key turning point in terms of innovation and sustainability, 15 million were invested in the areas of innovation, development of services, training and people’s well-being, and it is Cirfood district was inaugurated. At the same time, the nodes of the increase in the prices of agri-food raw materials, energy and other raw materials were addressed in a sector bent by two years of the pandemic. Precisely because of the adverse economic situation and price increases, 2022 led to a net negative result because the cooperative operates in collective catering, characterized by mostly public tenders with prices frozen or only partially subject to Istat revision.

«We do not hide that 2022 was a difficult year for our Group and for our sector, which suffered from inflation on raw materials and energy and the aftermath of the pandemic. Despite these factors, we are committed to achieving the objectives defined by the 2022 – 2025 Strategic Plan thanks to the strength of our people and a solid path in favor of innovation, which materialized with the opening of our Cirfood District – comments Chiara Nasi , president of the Cooperative -. In this direction we will turn our gaze to stimulate growth of our company and collective catering that is increasingly sustainable, avant-garde and inclusive, at the same time hoping for support from the institutions in favor of a service that can be considered by all public welfare effects.

As far as training and employment are concerned, in 2022 Cirfood increased training hours by 46% for a total of 107,000 hours while hiring increased by 46.5%. For the professional growth of employees, various initiatives have been implemented including: Welcome road, aimed at boys and girls on internships who are having their first work experience within the company and Grow in Cirfood, dedicated to new hires under 30 with a path made up of various training and experiential moments. Then there is Culture in a Pill, a training course aimed at Cirfood employees and their families, usable through a new digital platform whose contents are accessible from any device and at any time. In terms of food education, the project to distribute reusable anti-waste bags in schools continues, which allow students to take home bread and fruit not eaten at school and has implemented numerous food education projects dedicated to children, teachers and parents, provided through a dedicated web platform.