Interview with the company La Doria, a business plan based on PL

LET'S HAVE A TALK WITH PL MAGAZINE AND DIODATO FERRAIOLI, HEAD OF EXPORT SALES

La Doria,

a business plan based on PL

Logistic and productive efficiency to guarantee punctuality and reliability to customers is what has consolidated the company positioning also during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Italian multinational of canned vegetables and first European business of red sauces and canned legumes for the retail channel and first European producer of PL sauces, with a turnover of 848.1 million euros in 2020, attracting even the interest of Investindustrial, La Doria is listed in the Star segment of the Italian Stock Exchange Market (MIBTEL). Being the main player in the Italian food industry, La Doria is also the biggest Italian company of contract manufacturing. Its point of view, therefore, is also a privileged observatory on the phenomena that cross the world of the PL, as Diodato Ferrarioli, Head of Export Sales, explains.

In your core segments that are red sauces, canned vegetables and juices, how have the needs of distribution changed recently? The evolution that the private label has experienced in the last years has made it a valid alternative to the industrial brand for the consumer, not only for its prices combined with good product quality, but also for its assortment and type of service offered (formats, sustainable packaging etc.). In the food industry, PLs are facing a dynamic phase, they’re increasingly advanced and considered as a real brand, a means of value, quality and sustainability. The trend is increasingly addressed to the premium segment, aiming at quality raw materials, Italian spirit and sustainability, concerning supply chain and packaging. In other words, sales are not determined only by prices anymore.

Your group has lots of clients from abroad. In how many countries does the company work today and what are the most dynamic ones? And what are the ‘strongest’ in terms of sales, besides Italy? The foreing market is for La Doria number one reference channel, which generates over 80% of the revenues. The company operates with important shares in North Europe (65.7%), Rest of Europe (8.9%), Australia and New Zealand (4.5%), Japan (2%) and aims to enhance its presence in high-potential markets such as USA, Asia and Far East,

with specific products, linked to the tastes and local consumer habits. In the UK, La Doria, is the first export company of PL tomato products and canned legumes (baked beans), while, in Australia and Japan, it is the first export company of tomato products.

And what about the overseas development plans in terms of new markets? In addition to consolidating the shares achieved in the company's historic markets, La Doria has been committed for several years, as mentioned, to enhancing its presence in high-potential markets. Our group is investing in different development projects that involve product lines of high added value and with significant growth profits. By analyzing the competitive scenario of the company, La Doria Group places at the center of its mission the consolidation of its positioning in the canned food industry at an international level, leveraging on its Italian spirit and tradition, looking at innovation and improvement of existing recipes.

How has Brexit affected your business? As far as Brexit is concerned, at the end of 2020 we signed an agreement that avoided the obligation of import duties that could have represented a severe problem for the commercial exchanges with the United Kingdom. In the first months after the agreement the only perceived effect was custom clearance time. On the other hand, there has been the introduction of new custom practices that, besides increasing costs, slow down the procedures at the borders. However, our presence in loco in the British territory, through our controlled LDH, which has recently built an automatic warehouse in Sproughton (Suffolk), near Felixstowe harbor, is becoming a competitive advantage, especially in a context of uncertainty and change.

I imagine that a partner with the size of La Doria has long or very long term contracts, as well as product design and supply. Let’s talk about it... Our business model is mainly focused on PL and, for this reason, we define ourselves, not only as simple suppliers, but also as real and authentic partners of the retailers we keep a constant and lasting dialog with. That is why we have started to broaden our selection of added value and services, and this made us react to the changes of the demand and build both trade and customer loyalty, as important drivers for development. The constant innovation of PL service products, in line with new consumer trends, is undoubtedly one of our strengths. We offer our client a specialistic know-how in the production of PL products and high flexibility in the customization of recipes, packaging, and service. Through this sinergy with the Italian and international large scale distribution, we are able to build long-term relationships and reach higher economic efficiency, offering an increasingly complete service oriented, not only towards production, but also to product innovation through a profound knowledge of the final consumer, aimed at detecting the new market trends.

And what about innovation? As for product innovation, we have mainly focused on the packaging, to respond to the increasing demand for sustainable products with lower environmental impact, exploring new materials and new application technologies. For example, in 2020, we launched 124 development projects of new products with and for our clients.

Today, the market has embedded a new pattern/variable, that is sustainability. How did it affect your designing activity? Sustainability is a core topic for our organizational culture, a factor that drives all our company processes, from the selection of raw materials to the final product. Finding tangible results and performances that we gradually want to improve is our commitment. We’ve been producing in-house boxes and tinplate lids for packaging our product for more than 50 years. By doing so, we’ve reduced CO2 emissions from the transportation of the materials coming from external suppliers. With our in-house production we can reach 95% of the total need of our tinplate boxes, which is an endless recyclable material. The labels of our products are printed with water-based paint, to lower the environmental impact of every single product component in our factories as much as possible. Moreover, we use glass and brick made of recycled paper (combi) to pack our tomatoes, which are more and more requested in the foreign market. Our supply chain is ‘loyal’ because it completely suits our sustainable values and commitments. Since 2016, La Doria Group has checked and reported the results obtained in this field through the publication of a Sustainability Report. l