LECCE (ITALPRESS) – A Forum dedicated to the agri-food sector in which the topic of the transition of the Agrifood supply chain between sustainability and market was discussed with a focus on Puglia. UniCredit organized it in collaboration with the University of Salento. The Forum is one of the stages of italianEXPerience , a UniCredit journey dedicated to the export of the main Made in Italy supply chains. The Lecce stop included the Economies Forum and a series of B2B meetings that brought buyers and sellers into contact thanks to a virtual matching system. “The bank – underlined Ferdinando Natali, Regional Manager South of UniCredit – is committed to supporting the growth of the territory, as a facilitator of sustainable development and innovation. Apulian agrifood companies have a strategic importance as a driver of regional economic development As UniCredit we want to accompany the economy of this sector in the transition towards new development models, providing financial support, products and services and consultancy, including activities related to the PNRR. We are strongly committed to supporting the international development of the Agrifood supply chains represent a primary lever to give impetus to the economy of the South and consequently to the country system”. “The Apulian agri-food sector – declared Fabio Pollice, Rector of the University of Salento – has ample opportunity for expansion, but it is also a sector that must face a profound transformation if it wants to increase its competitiveness and sustainability with vertical integration processes and horizontal. As the University of Salento we are able to support its development both through teaching, as we are doing in a targeted manner with the Degree Course in Viticulture and Oenology and the investments connected to it, such as the Oenovation project, a center. integrated for the development of the supply chain that will be born shortly in Campi Salentina with an investment of 12 million euros both through research, with innovative projects that concern both agri-food products and production processes and are aimed at improving their quality and making them more sustainable “.
This is the Prometeia analysis of the Agrifood supply chain with focus on Puglia. The agrifood supply chain is central to the major processes that on a global scale are changing the face of trade and environmental policies, consumption trends and the concept of sustainability. Security of supplies and access to new markets, energy and digital revolution, prevention of hydrogeological instability, protection of the territory and its social and economic peculiarities and, last but not least, food health are the main channels through which the great global changes are transmitted to the ‘agrifood. Italy, with over 1.2 million companies in the supply chain, is the European nation with the highest agricultural added value and one of the most important for the production and export of the food and beverage industry. In this system, Puglia occupies a leading place, with over 196 thousand agrifood companies (40% of the total ones in the region, 16% of the national supply chain). A very high number which, however, translates into a still low weight on the national turnover (5.5%), linked to the over 195 thousand companies that do not reach 2 million in turnover (in particular, in the agricultural sector those that exceed 2 million turnover is only 200). A production structure that highlights a significant dimensional gap not only compared to the national average, but also compared to other southern regions and which can only partly be attributed to agricultural specializations. Despite the good export results (+9% average annual growth in Apulian agrifood exports in the last five years, compared to the Italian average +8.3%), the size limits have weighed on the comparison with the other southern regions, all capable of double-digit growth in the same period (value achieved in Puglia only in the Pasta and bakery products sector). 0123 Contacts UniCredit – Media Relations Roberto Vitellaro – [email protected] – cell. 336.891222 UniCredit – Public As further proof of the advantages of having more structured (not necessarily larger) companies, the over 2 thousand joint-stock companies in the Apulian agrifood sector (where those under 2 million euros are still the majority) have shown growth of very high turnover (higher than the Italian average and other southern regions), they limited the decline in margins in 2022 (although at low average levels), reduced their level of debt and were able to reduce collection times by customers at levels lower than national ones (particularly in the food industry sector). But the challenges for the future do not only concern the market, involving the very way of understanding agricultural and food processing activities. The driver of the transformation is technological innovation, not only intended to increase yields, productivity or sales (mechanisation, digitalisation of business processes and marketing channels), but intertwined with its environmental “twin”, to reduce the impact of agricultural activities on the environment (activities which are the most affected by ongoing climate change) and increase the efficiency of energy and other inputs (primarily water) of all company processes. Challenges which, even if perceived as imposed by legislative-regulatory activity at a European level, find a counterpart in the new sensitivity of society, which shows a growing appreciation for products that demonstrate a real commitment to safeguarding the environment, tourists who know how to combine holidays with cultural riches (to which many agri-food specialties rightly belong) and landscape and which is increasingly concerned about the possible irreversible effects of climate change (especially in the new generations). However, the new concept of sustainability does not only apply to environmental or financial parameters, but embraces everything that can guarantee development of the supply chain and the territory in which companies operate. From this point of view, worrying signs emerge from the data of the latest Agricultural Census, which show an agricultural sector that will have to face an important generational turnover in the coming years (in Italy, for every agricultural manager under 30 years old, there there are 10 over 75, with a peak of 16 in Puglia) and the addition of new specific skills (only 9% of Italian presenters have a qualification relating to agricultural activity). However, there is little delay, at least in Puglia, on the gender equality front: over one company in three is led by women, an element that could favor integration with other companies in the cultural, tourist and social services sector, which also have a strong presence. female and increasingly linked to the agri-food world, in particular in the new tourism trends. – Photo: Agenzia Fotogramma – (ITALPRESS). pc/com 09-May-24 13:10 .
