PRESS RELEASE
2024 was an excellent year for the Sant'Orsola cooperative—the best ever, according to the cooperative’s president Silvio Bertoldi, who was re-elected by the members at the annual meeting held on the evening of Saturday, April 12, for another three-year term. He has held the position since 2008. In addition to reporting positive financial results, he highlighted the importance of patents obtained by the cooperative—the first ever in the berries sector in Italy—the launch of the zero-residue blackberry, and the Credit Reputation Award, a prestigious national prize recently awarded to Sant'Orsola for its outstanding punctuality and transparency in dealing with financial institutions.
Patented knowledge to protect the company’s assets
Sant'Orsola has chosen to safeguard its proprietary knowledge through two nationally recognized industrial patents, unique in the agricultural sector. The first concerns the selection of berries and uses advanced artificial intelligence algorithms by implementing and training deep neural networks. The fruits are photographed to detect defects, ripeness, color, size, and other parameters, thus eliminating human error in the selection process.
The second patent concerns a system and process for preserving fruit in a controlled and refrigerated atmosphere, ensuring the safety and freshness of the produce.
Financial results
In 2024, the core turnover (berries, strawberries, cherries) increased by 9.44%, rising from €65 million in 2023 to over €71 million last year. Consumers recognized the quality of Sant'Orsola’s fruits, rewarding it more than in the past. The revenue growth also boosted the payouts distributed to members, which rose from €28,890,000 to €32,897,000 in the same period—an increase of 13.85%.
"The increase in payments, after two years of heavy rises in production costs, allows members to start investing again in their farms,” emphasized Bertoldi. “The cooperative plans to support new plantations developed according to the Trentino greenhouse model presented last November, with the aim of increasing both production and quality. Moreover, through the recent agreement reached with the Cassa Centrale Banca group,” he added, “we are able to support investments by helping cover the bank interest costs borne by our members.”
Times are changing
New times require new methods and a willingness to adapt. This was the core of the message from general manager Matteo Bortolini.
“We need to increase production because demand far exceeds supply. Therefore, we are expanding cultivation areas beyond our traditional territory,” he told members during the meeting. “As producers, we are naturally drawn to seek partnerships beyond national borders, building on existing relationships with Central and South American countries and North Africa. However, increasing volumes is also feasible in Italy. We already produce raspberries year-round, and strawberries are moving in the same direction—but there is still room for improvement.”
What’s new
During the meeting, members were presented with some company updates. Among the most significant: the relaunch of strawberries to extend their production cycle, with the first Sant'Orsola strawberries grown in Sicily starting from January; the expansion of the zero-residue berries line with the blackberry—now available on the market—following the previously launched raspberry and blueberry Rz. Finally, the Rubus and Ribes Symposium—an international congress that Sant'Orsola will host in 2027: a week-long event gathering over 200 researchers from around the world dedicated to raspberries, blackberries, and currants.
