Sammontana, the CEO Bagnoli: “The climate penalizes the ice creams”
The Tuscan company Sammontana Italy focuses on sustainability and becomes benefit company, incorporating in its Articles of Association the commitment for purposes of common benefit and to share the positive impact of its activity in a transparent and continuous way. The group, founded in the 1940s by the Bagnoli family, is among the Italian big names in frozen breakfast products with the Tre Marie brand and in ice cream with its iconic product Barattolino. Despite the complexities faced in recent years, between the consequences of the pandemic, the crisis in Ukraine and the increase in costs relating to raw materials and energy, Sammontana Italia has continued to direct its innovation skills and investments in favor of the sustainability of production processes and product lines.
“Sammontana has always done things for others, for their children, because it is part of our company’s DNA” he tells Truth and Business the managing director Leonard Bagnoli. “We were born out of love, because Count Saduceschi saw that the children of his village were suffering from a lack of milk and had 6 cows brought from the Marches. With the excess milk he created a dairy bar in Empoli which he called Sammontana from the name of his town. Then came my grandfather Romeo, who worked as a toll collector, but out of love for his 6 children he wanted to ingenuity for their future by buying the dairy bar on debt which, one of his heirs, Renzo, grew by acquiring a small shed where there is still the our plant. This is why today we want to sanction something that has always been with us by becoming a Benefit company, because for Sammontana it is important to pass on values to our children and to the territory that hosts us. We want to create a better company in a clean world and for this reason we have been developing a virtuous strategy on the environment and in the social sphere since 2016″.
How is this climatically unstable summer going?
“We are leaders in the breakfast market with the Tre Marie brand and we are having a very good response (+8%) because people do not give up on indulging in a morning cuddle. This is an excellent result, which reinforces our choice to focus on product quality and service to our customers. As for the ice cream market, where we are second in Italy, at the moment it is underperforming due to the whims of the climate and marks -10%. Large-scale distribution does even worse, -12%, but we are outperforming thanks to the 2.5% market share gained in recent years. Both are doing well our iconic Jar that the multipacks with the stecco Groovy which grows by 6%. This is why we are investing 25 million euros in the Verona plant to add a new production line”.
The packaged ice cream market is getting crowded with the entry of big food companies such as Barilla and Ferrero. What do you think?
“Until last year we produced Ringo ice cream for Barilla which has now passed to Unilever like all the other ice creams of the Parma group. Ferrero, on the other hand, produces them on its own, in Spain, and is investing heavily in advertising. It is a positive competitor, however, because its prices are high and we are ready to take up the challenge. For now it doesn’t have large market shares, but they are increasing. As far as we are concerned, however, last year we entered into a production agreement with Loacker, with whom we have a very strong relationship, and their ice cream biscuits are performing very well”.
So, weather permitting, what 2023 do you expect?
“We estimate to reach 500-510 million euros in turnover against 485 million in 2022, with an Ebitda level of 50 million euros (41 in 2022)”.
And abroad?
“We want to export to Europe only our made in Italy product made in the four factories of the Peninsula and we do it by selecting the best partners of the premium price level large-scale distribution. We started the journey with customers scattered throughout Europe and we are present in Germany, France, Benelux and Scandinavian countries. Outside of the Old Continent, instead. we are present in Australia”.
Do you also have acquisitions in mind?
“There are many dossiers circulating, but we would like to grow in the sector of refrigerated savory products for bars to which we already supply ready-made first courses, pizzas and hamburgers. Now we buy them from external suppliers, but we are thinking of acquiring companies that produce them to complete our range”.