(AGENPARL) – gio 10 agosto 2023 Agricola Moderna: Intesa Sanpaolo loan
with SACE Guarantee for technological and
sustainable development
Milan, 10 August 2023 – Agricola Moderna, an innovative company that was
among the first to launch products cultivated in vertical agriculture on the Italian
market, has received a loan of €10 million euros from Intesa Sanpaolo, backed
by SACE’s Green Guarantee. The availability of new capital will enable the
technological implementation of the vertical farming plant under construction at
Agnadello (CR), which will be operational from September 2024.
The transaction was structured for Intesa Sanpaolo by the IMI Corporate &
Investment Banking Division, led by Mauro Micillo.
The new premises will enclose the entire production chain in an area of around
9,000 cubic metres, of which 2,000 will be used for a total cultivation area, on
several levels, of 11,000 cubic metres. More than 900 tons will be produced a
year, 2.5 tons a day on average, of leafy vegetables, including ready-to-eat teen
leaf and aromatic lettuces.
The Agnadello plant will stand as an example of innovation in the agri-tech
sector where research and development will be essential tools in order to offer a
quality product to the consumers and to optimise the production processes with
regard to the environment. In fact, the plant will be 100% powered by
renewable, automated sources, everything will be conducted inside the
establishment: from the sowing to the packaging of the product, in order to offer
incredibly fresh and uncontaminated foodstuffs.
“The consumer will be the first to touch the product,” said Benjamin Franchetti,
co-founder of Agricola Moderna. “The new premises will have thousands of
sensors and will be managed through AI systems on which we have worked in
recent years. Our aim is to approach the agricultural world in a systematic way:
perfecting the processes and eliminating waste and chemicals harmful to the
environment and humankind. In the traditional agri-food system, around a third of
food resources are wasted during the various stages of supply, production,
transformation, distribution and consumption, with negative consequences for the
environment. At Agricola Moderna, we are committed to striving every day to
reduce waste to a minimum along the entire production chain. We will be saving
around 95% of water and soil and we will make the process increasingly circular:
the water that evaporates from the plants, for example, will not be wasted but
analysed, the mineral salts refreshed and reintroduced into the system.”
Agricola Moderna, established in Milan in 2018 based on the vision of its two
founders, Pierluigi Giuliani and Benjamin Franchetti, is one of the pioneer
enterprises in the Italian vertical agriculture market. Experimentation began in
2019 with a pilot plant built in Melzo at the gates of Milan. Since 2020, its products
have been distributed across the whole of the Lombard region, through mass
retailers and specialised e-commerce.
“Intesa Sanpaolo’s loan with the support of SACE’s Green Guarantee is the final link
in the chain that will enable us to complete our vertical farming project in
Agnadello. We are proud of the incredible interest that swirls around Agricola
Moderna, which enables us today to have strategic partners and shareholders for
the development of our business with whom we share principles and goals,” said
Pierluigi Giuliani, co-founder of Agricola Moderna. “The Agnadello farm is a
new starting point for distributing our products throughout Italy. In the future, we
also want to open ourselves up to international markets with new plants, not just in
Italy but also in Europe,” Giuliani concluded.
“Supporting businesses that invest in sustainability and innovation is at the heart of
our mission, in line with the goals of our Industrial Plan INSIEME 2025,” said
Daniela Cataudella, SACE’s Business Corporate Managing Director. “That is
why we at SACE are proud to be at the side of an enterprise like Agricola Moderna
aimed at the development of new technologies to successfully tackle the challenges
of the digital transformation and growing in a sustainable way.”
Bruno Pacini, Industry Food & Beverage and Distribution Manager of Intesa
Sanpaolo’s IMI CIB Division, emphasised: “We are particularly pleased to be
working alongside an example of excellence like Agricola Moderna. The Agnadello
project is a solid, innovative example of how agri-food companies are able to evolve
by embracing circular models and using avant-garde technologies, consistent with
the NRRP goals related to the green revolution and the ecological transition. The
Intesa Sanpaolo Group has always been on the front line in promoting energy
efficiency and works with entrepreneurial organisations that know how to combine
growth and sustainable development, also assisting them with the processes of
internationalisation.”
Agricola Moderna was one of the first companies to launch products from vertical agriculture on the Italian
market. The company was established in Milan in 2018, based on the vision of the two founders and friends,
Pierluigi Giuliani and Benjamin Franchetti with the aim of producing food in a sustainable way in order to combat
climate change. Since 2020, the Agricola Moderna brand has distributed its products across the whole of the
Lombard region, through mass retailers and specialised e-commerce. Every day, Agricola Moderna offers highquality, fresh, healthy and tasty lettuces and aromas, without pesticides and without nickel, thanks to indoor
cultivation using the hydroponic system, which enables resources useful for the planet to be conserved, thanks to
the optimisation of the production chain in which the water and soil saving is up to 95%, compared to traditional,
intensive cultivation. Agricola Moderna’s innovation also extends to the working environment: 18 collaborators,
almost all under 35, of various nationalities and with different professions, such as agronomists, engineers, data
analysts and managers. One in four of the staff has been awarded a Research Doctorate and many have had
experience abroad, thereby encouraging a constant exchange of ideas, cultures and experiences. The business
model envisages a firm connection with the territory and the local communities in which the company operates in
order to have a short production and distribution chain. Lombardy is only the start of the development plan, which
envisages new vertical farms in Italy and the world. Visit the website http://www.agricolamoderna.com.
SACE is an Italian insurance-financial group directly controlled by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance,
specialising in the support of businesses and the national economic fabric through a wide range of tools and
solutions to boost competitiveness in Italy and the world. For forty-five years, the SACE Group has been the key
partner for Italian businesses that export and grow in foreign markets. It also supports the banking system in order
to facilitate, with its financial guarantees, access to credit for companies and its role has recently been extended
with new tools to support liquidity, investments for competitiveness and for sustainability as part of the Italian
Green New Deal, starting with the domestic market. With a portfolio of insured transactions and guaranteed
investments of €164 billion, SACE, together with all the companies of the Group – SACE FCT, which operates in
factoring, SACE BT, active in the branches Credit, Securities and Other damage to assets and SACE SRV,
specialising in credit recovery and management of information assets – serves more than 37,000 companies,
especially SMEs, supporting their growth in Italy and in more than 200 countries worldwide.
Intesa Sanpaolo is Italy’s leading banking group – serving families, businesses and the real economy – with a
significant international presence. Intesa Sanpaolo’s distinctive business model makes it a European leader in
Wealth Management, Protection & Advisory, highly focused on digital and fintech, in particular with Isybank, the
Group’s digital bank. An efficient and resilient Bank, it benefits from its wholly-owned product factories in asset
management and insurance. The Group’s strong ESG commitment includes providing €115 billion in impact lending
by 2025 to communities and for the green transition, and €500 million in contributions to support people most in
need, positioning Intesa Sanpaolo as a world leader in terms of social impact. Intesa Sanpaolo is committed to Net
Zero by 2030 for its own emissions and by 2050 for its loan and investment portfolios. An engaged patron of
Italian culture, Intesa Sanpaolo has created its own network of museums, the Gallerie d’Italia, to host the bank’s
artistic heritage and as a venue for prestigious cultural projects.
News: group.intesasanpaolo.com/it/sala-stampa/news