It all comes from the ancient name of the river Po, that is Eridanus. Today Eridania has two main offices in Emilia: the commercial one in Bologna and the packaging one in Russi, in the Ravenna area: it is one of the largest sugar packaging centres in Europe capable of packaging up to 130 million kilogrammes of sugar per year. The company now records a turnover of 180 million euros and has 92 employees. Giampaolo Colletti interviews Alessio Bruschetta, Chief Executive Officer at Eridania for FARE INSIEME.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
Water is the blue gold. The ancients were aware of this, while we too often forget about it, as we cannot really understand the power of water, which generates life. By true, the name of the company we are about to discuss has a lot to do with water as a primary element, but also as a navigation platform. Eridania, an Italian excellence linked to the production and marketing of sugar, owes its name to Eridanus, the ancient name of the river Po and also the name of the river god in Greek mythology. In fact, over the centuries most of the sugar factories in Italy and in the world developed around the rivers.
Story of a myth. But let's go back to Eridania. It all started in 1899 in Genoa from teamwork, when no less than twelve partners decided to found the Società Anonima Eridania Fabbrica di Zuccheri. The mission was clear since the beginning: to produce and market sugar throughout the peninsula. The first sugar refinery was built in Codigoro, a town of twelve thousand souls in the Ferrara area and one of the municipalities linked to the Po Delta. Shortly afterwards, the president Davide Sancristoforo was succeeded by Giovanni Battista Figari, who led the company for thirteen years. Figari was responsible for joining the first trade association Unione Zuccheri. Once again, it's the team who makes the difference. The 1920s saw a restructuring of the existing plants and the acquisition of new ones: refineries, sugar refineries, distilleries and other establishments were opened. Through a series of corporate changes the eighties arrived. Actually to the year before. In fact, in 1979 Eridania passed to the Gruppo Ferruzzi and then to the sugar giant Béghin Say, a historic French company founded indeed by Napoleon. At the dawn of the new millennium Eridania held the control of over 55% of the Italian sugar production and 15% of the European sugar production. But in the 2000s great changes were expected for the sugar sector: the reform that had regulated the market for fifty years began. And it will be the basis of great revolutions in the sector in Italy. «In those years, thinking about sugar was equivalent to thinking about Eridania. In addition to introducing technological innovations to simplify the company's work, it was the first to dedicate itself to the development of brands and services in the sugar world. In this scenario, Eridania was increasingly projected towards the growth of sweetening in Italy and introduced new products and marketing. Among these, the inclusion of the red colour recalling energy, passion and vitality as well as the launch of unique references, such as Zefiro and cane sugars», recalls Alessio Bruschetta, CEO at Eridania, who joined the company nine years ago after a long experience in an American multinational company. In 2003 the company became Eridania Sadam SpA, acquired by the Gruppo Industriale Maccaferri of Bologna, with as much as seven factories available. 2007 marked the year in which an agreement was signed with the English Tate & Lyle, one of the world's leading producers of ingredients for the food and sugar industry in Europe. In 2011, the French group Cristal Union, the fourth largest sugar producer in Europe, joined the company and then acquired 100% in 2016. «We are launching important new products on the market, such as sweeteners. Today we have over 9,000 cooperating members and 10 sugar refineries and we are the fourth largest group in Europe», explains Bruschetta. The company has two main offices in Emilia: the commercial one in Bologna and the packaging one in Russi, in the Ravenna area: it is one of the largest sugar packaging centres in Europe capable of packaging up to 130 million kilogrammes of sugar per year. Eridania now records a turnover of 180 million euros and has 92 employees. «In terms of markets, we develop about half of our value in the retail channel, where we are leaders in the sweetening market, while the remainder is developed in the industrial channel with large customers distributed throughout Italy», explains Bruschetta.
A plural history. The winner is the team, scattered throughout Italy and around the world. A team made up of passionate, competent, resilient people. Today Eridania is part of the gruppo Cristal Union, a cooperative that has over 9,000 farmers and that represents the fourth largest sugar producer in Europe. «Precisely with a view to enhancing the contribution of all the players and processes that take place in our supply chain, we decided to measure the carbon footprint, i.e. the carbon footprint of our Classic product - that is the 1 kilogramme pack, emblem of the company – with the aim of making available to our customers and consumers a transparent picture of the environmental impact of our product. And it is in this way that we were able to measure the results obtained in recent years, which are the result of the chain and production choices that have been made: more specifically, we calculated that in the production of our 1 kg Classic sugar pack we reduced the emissions of Co2 by 35% compared to seven years ago and we reduced water use by an amount equals to 500 Olympic size swimming pools every year. We also introduced energy from 100% renewable sources for our packaging plant in Russi», says Bruschetta. From the Emilia-Romagna region to the rest of Italy and the whole world. «We try to bring our distinctive features to the world: our creativity and our spirit of innovation, in a continuous exchange of information with our commercial partners», explains Bruschetta.Meanwhile, Eridania has received the attribution of the Historic Brand of National Interest from the Ministry of Economic Development: it is a recognition that is awarded to brands with at least fifty years of history in Italy and that have guided cultural change by interpreting consumer trends. «Employees are the most important resource in our company. We are the result of a balanced mix between the professionalism of our people and innovation. The challenge is to attract the new generations and to be able to grasp our values in them. To do this, we work more on issues of great attention to the new generations, such as environmental sustainability», concludes Bruschetta. To innovate in tradition, but by applying values and organisation. In a world that runs fast and has a short memory, it takes courage to be consistent.
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