Latteria Soresina increases its turnover despite the drop in the price of Grana Padano, which is its flagship product. In 2018 the Cooperativa from Cremona, which withdraws 1,200 tons of milk from its member companies every day and moves around 140 million pieces a year, reported an increase in turnover by 10 million euros, (+2.5%), from 365 million in 2017 to 375 million.
The Board of Directors of Latteria Soresina considered that the situation of falling prices in 2018 was the right moment to acquire new production factories, in order to speed up the production of Grana Padano, compared to what was planned, in the expectation that the market could recover in an interesting way. A further 20,000 “Grana shares” were thus purchased for use in 2019 at the Chiari plant, purchased in 2017, and upgraded in 2018. The market forecast turned out to be a good and this suggests an excellent 2019. The forecast is an increase in turnover of about 10%.
The production of Grana Padano at Latteria Soresina thus rise to 512,000, consolidating its role as the first producer of this prized cheese.
Latteria Soresina is the national reference for the price of milk but is also one of the main producers of butter. Since last February, the new butter factory, for which 15 million euros were invested, reached full operation, doubling the production capacity of the Cooperativa from 5,000 to 10,000 tons per year.
The increase in the turnover of butter is also due to the strategy of Latteria Soresina, which always offers high quality and supports this product with communication campaigns, making consumers rediscover the flavours and nutritional qualities of this ingredient/condiment fundamental to our Mediterranean diet.
Tiziano Fusar Poli, the Chairman of Latteria Soresina, explains the strategic nature of this operation: “The investment of about 15 million euros is the largest ever made by our Cooperativa in recent decades, but it will allow us to be at the top for many years in the butter business. He also stressed: “the core business will continue to be directed towards Grana Padano, which in the last decade rewarded milk better than many other product lines. The acquisition, also in 2018, of 20,000 Grana quotas to be produced as of 2019, which will allow us to maintain or even increase the quota of milk given to this production, which today accounts for 45% of Latteria Soresina sales.
Also important in this sense is the “Brescialat” dairy farm in Chiari, acquired in 2017. “This new plant of ours, thanks to the investments approved and now carried out in 2018 in harmony with the Rural Development Plan (RDP) – says Mr Fusar Poli – is able to produce up to 100,000 Grana cheese units per year”.
But Latteria Soresina, unlike many much smaller Grana Padano producers who focus on single production or a limited range of products, diversified its business, one of its strengths. In fact, in addition to Grana Padano cheese and Butter, the production of the Cooperativa from Cremona is also expanding with excellence in the markets of Provolone and packaged milk, and the products marketed include the Italian fior fiore caseario as Parmigiano Reggiano, Mozzarella, Yoghurt and others.
For 2019 Latteria Soresina expects to close with a turnover of over 400 million euros. The Cooperativa, with its more than 200 stables, covers 11% of the milk requirements in Lombardy (almost 5% of the national milk), and ranks among the top Italian companies in the sector.
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