Finance as a driver of Food & Beverage business development
Food & Beverage is the second Italian manufacturing sector, the first in terms of export growth rate from 2008 to date. Its role in the country's economy is crucial, but it has the potential to become even more relevant. One of the characteristics of the sector is that it has a high concentration of family businesses that are not always keen to dialogue and open up to the capital markets and private equity funds that, on the contrary, see this sector with great interest. There has been a significant improvement on this front in recent years, although much remains to be done and it is up to the entrepreneur to understand when opening to a fund can turn into an opportunity for development.
An analysis of the sector and the prospects for collaboration between industrial companies and the capital markets was illustrated by Bruno Pacini, Head of Industry Food & Beverage and Distribution of Intesa Sanpaolo, on the occasion of the 2022 Food Summit in Parma.
The industrial strength of the Food & Beverage sector is in stark contrast with its weak presence on the stock exchange: only 3% of the total capitalisation is attributable to companies in the sector. These companies have great opportunities to seize at an international level thanks to the exclusivity of their products, but it is necessary to be able to bring these products where there is a demand for them. A family business often needs help to face a process fraught with complex challenges and swift changes.
Today, there is a very diversified offering of funds in terms of investment size, governance solutions, length of investment period and accelerated growth paths.
The choice of a reliable financial partner makes it possible to improve the financial and equity structure of a company, to empower the management team and to have a dimension that allows them to be market players by interacting in the reference network alongside universities, research centres and institutions. Finally, opening up to private equity funds is often crucial to the smooth generational transition of family businesses.
Visit the Food Summit website for more details on the conference and the agenda, which involved the participation of numerous prominent speakers, including: Gianpiero Calzolari, Chairman of Granarolo, Maurizio Gardini, Chairman of Conserve Italia, Antonio Ferraioli, CEO of La Doria and Oscar Farinetti, Chairman of Eataly.