Press Release

New Zealand takes the number of countries reached by the Group to 56

Granarolo acquires 25% of European Foods, the leading distributor of products Made in in New Zealand

The agreement includes an option for 51% of the share capital of European Foods

The market of Italian cheese imported into Oceania is worth about 33 million euros, over 50% of which is accounted for by Parmigiano Reggiano and Padano

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Bologna, 13 October 2015. The Granarolo Group, Italy’s biggest agro-industrial operator with Italian capital, has announced it has concluded an acquisition operation that will mean its subsidiary Granarolo International1 owns a 25% share of the capital of European Foods, the leading importer and distributor of Italian food products in New Zealand, which today has a turnover of 6 million euros.

The operation also includes an option to purchase a further 26% share within 12-18 months, which could allow Granarolo International to hold a 51% stake in European Foods.

European Foods is a leading importer-distributor of Italian food products in New Zealand. It is based in Auckland and distributes products Made in Italy through both retail and foodservice channels.

Thanks to this operation, Granarolo intends to access the New Zealand market in order to distribute the range of products that include, in detail, cheese such as Parmigiano Reggiano, and . The market of Italian cheese imported into New Zealand is worth more than 5 million euros, while the total into Oceania is worth about 33 million euros, over 50% of which is accounted for by Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano.

“New Zealand is a very interesting country, a market showing solid growth with consumers who have high purchasing power and a predilection for products Made in Italy”, said Gianpiero Calzolari, President of Granarolo. He continues, “the operation will also mean we can extend our scope of action to include Australia

1 Company owned by Granarolo S.p.A. that heads all Group activities and shareholdings outside Italy.

and south-east Asian countries with which New Zealand has free trade agreements”.

This operation is part of the 2012-2016 strategy plan that, through an intensive internationalisation process, aims to see foreign markets account for 40% of profit. The expectation with European Foods is to double turnover by 2018.

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Granarolo Group

One of Italy’s major agro-food concerns, the Granarolo Group comprises two distinct yet complementary units: the agricultural consortium of milk producers, Granlatte, which collects the milk, and the joint stock company Granarolo S.p.A., - which processes the milk at 12 production sites throughout Italy and 2 in France and markets the finished product.

The Granarolo group is therefore the most important milk supply chain in Italy, with producer cooperatives as its major shareholders. It unites approximately 1,000 dairy farmers, an organisation of milk collection from farms with 70 vehicles, 1,200 vehicles for distribution delivering 850,000 metric tonnes a year and every day serving some 50,000 sales points where almost 11 million Italian families buy Granarolo products.

The Group’s in-house laboratories analyse the entire production chain daily, from the milk to the finished product, to guarantee consumers with quality products and high safety standards. The Group also avails of external quality controls carried out by international certification bodies, qualified and guaranteed by the International Food Standard (IFS), the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the EU organic food certification (CCPB). Since 2002, the production process has had ISO 9001 quality management certification.

The Granarolo Group had approximately 2,100 employees as at 31/12/2014. 77.48% of the Group is owned by the Granlatte Consortium, 19.78% by Intesa Sanpaolo and the remaining 2.74% by Cooperlat.

In 2014, the Group’s turnover exceeded one billion euros.

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Granarolo S.p.A. Communication and Corporate Affairs Myriam Finocchiaro Tommaso Simili Tel +39 051 4162417 Tel +39 051 4162652 Mobile +39 348 7124967 [email protected] [email protected]

Media Relations Weber Shandwick | Advisory Giorgio Catalano Federica Torello Rovereto Tel +39 02 0064111 Tel +39 02 006411.1 Mobile +39 334 6969275 Mobile +39 342 7402510 [email protected] [email protected]

Carola Beretta Benedetta Mazza Tel +39 02 006411.1 T: +39 02 006411.1 Mobile +39 335 6111390 M: +39 335 7850945 [email protected] [email protected]