Italy-based dairy major Granarolo has issued details of a strategic plan covering the years 2024 to 2027.

It said the initiative will involve €300m ($316.8m) of investment, “mainly in projects aimed at growth to achieve a significant increase in turnover over the plan period”.

The move follows the Bologna-based group raising capital of €160m through the sale of a stake in the business earlier this year.

Granarolo president Gianpiero Calzolari said: “The objectives that the company intends to achieve through the implementation of the new plan are to consolidate and increase its presence on the national market through digital transformation and innovation of the product supply chain, strengthen its positioning at an international level, and innovate to anticipate new solutions of product in a continuously evolving market.”

The company said the plan includes “both important organic growth objectives and extraordinary operations aimed at strengthening the competitive positioning of the group in Italy and abroad”.

Asked for more detail on its plans by Just Food, a Granarolo spokesperson said new innovation will include the development of functional products with a longer shelf life.

The spokesperson added European markets and the US are the main destinations it will be focusing on in terms of international growth but would not comment at this stage on increased turnover targets or on whether the strategy involves M&A activity.

The group’s stake sale in late March saw €100m invested by Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) through the €40bn Patrimonio Rilancio national strategic fund financed by the country’s Treasury.

It acquired a stake of around 15% in the milk and cheese producer.

Agricultural worker pension agency Enpaia and controlling shareholder Granlatte, a farmer’s cooperative, put in €30m each.

Granarolo, which also produces pasta and deli meats, has 14 production sites in Italy and another nine across France, the UK, Brazil, Germany, New Zealand and the US.
It represents more than 600 milk-producing farmers and distributes its products via 50,000 points of sale.