Ready meals: Eurochef Italia and La Gastronomica merge and Gourmet Italian Food is born, which will hold 100% of the two operating companies. Thus was born a group with over 100 employees and a turnover of about 35 million euros active in the fresh ready meals sector. The business combination was decided by Alcedo SGR (through the Alcedo IV fund) and FVS SGR (Veneto Sviluppo): the first had acquired a majority stake in Eurochef in 2019 and will continue to maintain a controlling stake in the new company, while FVS invested through the Sviluppo Pmi fund in La Gastronomica in December 2018. Stefano Stanghellini, CEO of Eurochef, and Massimo Zanin, CEO of LG, will continue to maintain their operational roles in the company. 

Eurochef, based in Sommacampagna (Verona) was founded in 1998 specializing in the production and marketing of pasteurized ready meals of fresh gastronomy and establishing itself over the years as a partner for the main large-scale distribution chains. La Gastronomica, based in Padua, founded in 1967 by the Zanin family, has specialized over the years in the production of very fresh unpasteurized ready meals intended mainly for large-scale distribution chains.

"The loyalty of the two companies represents a formidable success story in one of the most dynamic market segments in the food sector", explains Maurizio Tiveron, president of Alcedo. "Gif will be able to boast a range of products that are among the most complete on the market, ranging from Eurochef's fresh pasteurized dishes to LG's very fresh dishes, always characterized by high quality. We are also examining several other strategic acquisitions that we hope to be able to announce shortly. with the aim of product and revenue expansion in the coming years". 

"We are happy to accompany Stefano Stanghellini and Massimo Zanin in this new chapter of their entrepreneurial history by combining our subsidiary LG with Eurochef. We strongly believe in this group, active in a rapidly growing market and where we have glimpsed common success factors, such as high production technology and attention to the quality of the ingredients used in the right mix of tradition and innovation", declares Gianmarco. Russo, general manager of FVS.