On 27 February 2025, a collaboration agreement was signed between CAAB, the Bologna Agrifood Centre, and the business consultancy firm Roncucci&Partners.
The collaboration agreement is aimed at the realisation of development projects at an international level in the agri-food sector with a focus on agri-food logistics. Digitisation, internationalisation, fresh product management, cold chain, production sustainability, distribution and logistics are the areas of competence of the two companies.
CAAB and Roncucci&Partners will actively collaborate on different work plans, from the conception to the development and management of internationalisation projects for companies, research centres and universities, from logistics in the territories to project financing, from partner research to the development of digitalisation initiatives for internationalisation also through the use and supply of technological platforms and software.
CAAB and CAAB Advisory for international projects
The CAAB is Bologna’s agri-food cluster promoted by the local public authorities, which has involved hundreds of private operators since the 1990s. Within the CAAB is the Fruit and Vegetable Market, which is one of the largest fresh produce distribution facilities in Italy. Increasingly, the CAAB includes refrigerated warehouses and covered logistics platforms, facilities for the flower, food and fish trade, as well as service companies and support structures for the sector. The CAAB system has a turnover of approximately EUR 500 million per year and is home to 15 wholesale companies, a producers’ consortium comprising 135 companies with an area of approximately 2,750 hectares, as well as 50 farms that market their products directly.
The experience accumulated over the years following the conception of the New Markets Area, which was inaugurated in 2016 and is still at the forefront of the sector, and the extreme complexity of fresh markets internationally, prompted the launch in 2018 of CAAB Advisory, the division that manages international projects.
The main target area for collaboration is the Gulf countries, in particular the UAE and Saudi Arabia, countries that are increasingly sensitive to the issue of food security, supply, quality and sustainability. Growing international tensions – from wars to tariffs, from disruptions in the global supply chain to accusations of land grabbing – have jeopardised the availability of fresh food for the O.M. countries characterised by difficult climatic conditions that cost the food security of products such as fruit, vegetables, eggs, as well as the entire milk chain, all fundamental products for a proper diet.
Final thoughts
Through the agreement with Roncucci&Partners, i.e. with a partner of great experience and reliability, constantly operating in the agri-food sector, present with its own offices in Africa and India, simultaneously active in digitisation processes for internationalisation and managerial innovation with 24 years of experience, and characterised by a consolidated international projection, CAAB will be able to manage large entrepreneurial projects in triangulation with Italian companies.
At Roncucci&Partners we help companies develop themselves and their business, embrace change and evolve to thrive in a world that is increasingly complicated, insidious and requires great expertise. We do this by applying punctual methods and rigorous strategies, the result of many years of experience and the richness of the numerous success stories we have conducted all over the world. Passion and method are indeed our guides to enhance the present and build the future.
