Emilia Romagna

The agrifood sector is an economic engine forItaly and in particular for the Emilia-Romagna region, thanks to a high level of specialisation and a great number of products bearing the prestigious Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and (Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) labels which are exported all over the world. The sector covers the whole "from farm to fork" value chain: starting from the farms and all the way to the consumers’ plates: it includes ICT systems, equipment and machineries, transformation and packaging plants, logistics and food by-products and waste valorisation.

The agrifood system of Emilia-Romagna involves about 65,000 farms (80,000 workers), while the number of companies operating in the food and beverage sector is 4,659 correspond 6,468 local units, equal to 11.9% of the total manufacturing. The whole agrifood sector occupy more than 300,000 workers.

Top-quality typical products, processed following traditional methods, together with an industrial fabric specialised in the production of consumer goods and food processing machinery: this is the Emilia-Romagna of Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) and Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) products.

Emilia-Romagna was the first Italian region to adopt specific rules regarding the production of quality-controlled products, as well as being the first to adopt a law on food traceability, making it a region that specialises not only in producing culinary treasures, but also food processing machinery.

Indeed, the area between Reggio and Modenaaccounts for the highest concentration of agricultural machinery production in Italy, whilst between Bologna and Parma the production of industrial food packaging machines is the most competitive on a global level. The combination of entrepreneurship and the spirit of cooperation that are typical of the region are expressed more clearly in the food and agriculture sector.

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