This complicated year is coming to an end and it is time to make balances and forecasts, but also talk about digital tools that can improve our future. The pandemic, the war and international tensions, high inflation but also a weird climate have placed the world and the entire economic sector under a strong pressure. Particularly, the difficulties in finding raw materials and the dramatic increase of energy cost – as an immediate effect of the conflict in Ukraine – have produced serious and heavy economic effects on the balance sheet of many companies as well as on the finances of most households.

There is no doubt that what happened, though dramatic and painful, shall not be an excuse for any entrepreneur or manager to stop or slowdown projects of growth and development that remain necessary and urgent, now more than ever.

Our Company will continue to invest in the research and fine-tuning of new and innovative products but also – and especially – in new technologies and digital tools, with the aim to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of our operating processes and to guarantee a better service to our customers around the world, in order to continue to support their business. Our future solidity will be represented by the capacity to bear, adapt and react to complicated moments, turning difficulties and emergencies into opportunities of development, growth but also renovation.

2023 will possibly be another tough year: companies must be prepared to face high inflation and economic stagnation. The energy crisis will probably continue to dominate a good part of next year, food prices will still remain on the high side and margins will continue to dwindle.
At the same time, we should expect the progression of innovation and developments in transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), cloud computing, block chains and superfast networks protocol such as 5G.

The climate disaster will put an enormous pressure on the industry, which is already trying to satisfy the different requirements of a new conscious consumer whose purchasing behavior is driven by factors such as sustainability and ecological impact.

Alifood shall remain resilient and pursue a program of innovation in every area of operations, especially in the digital field. We will increase the number of our personnel in some strategic departments and introduce new categories of food products, especially “Plant Based” items; we will invest in different innovative projects for stable, sustainable and quality modernization of our business model, with the aim of building and reinforcing the trust – which is primarily important, especially in this tough time – with all our existing and new customers. Research and training will help us achieve this target, provided that they express the quality and excellence that are essential to obtain trust.

More effective selling and marketing, better customer service, more efficient supply chains, products and services that are more aligned with the new customer’s needs are all on the table and will represent our concrete answer to the usual, end-of-year question: where will we be at this time, next year?

Happy 2023 to everyone!