At the recent General Assembly of Confcooperative Fedagripesca Emilia-Romagna, Agrintesa took part in the round-table discussion entitled ‘Competitiveness, Young People, Cooperation: Strategies for Adding Value to the Italian Agri-Food Sector’, which was dedicated to key players in the region’s cooperative agri-food sector.

This high-profile discussion on the sector’s prospects and challenges featured Aristide Castellari (Agrintesa), Gianpiero Calzolari (Granarolo), Carlo Dalmonte (Caviro Group), Riccardo Deserti (Parmigiano Reggiano PDO Consortium) and Paolo Lombardi (Orogel).

In his speech, President Aristide Castellari reiterated a key point: aggregation is not a recent choice, but a fundamental element of Agrintesa’s DNA. A strategic lever that enables a structured response to market demands – particularly those of large-scale retail – ensuring continuity, volumes, organisation and investment capacity, a win-win model that supports the growth and future of agricultural businesses.

Resilience and risk management – starting with the increasingly frequent dramatic effects of climate change, such as the violent storm of wind and snow that struck the Emilia-Romagna region in recent days – require ongoing investment in active protection systems to bolster production security as much as possible and preserve the stability of supply chains.

Finally, the challenge of plant protection remains central: the gradual reduction in available tools is putting the sustainability of production at risk. In this context, it is essential to preserve existing solutions and continue to invest in innovation, including new genetic technologies.

Tackling these challenges requires vision, appropriate tools and a shared commitment: a reflection that goes beyond the individual enterprise and involves the entire agri-food system and the institutions.