Invitalia: 37.5 million in investment with Melinda. Mattarella visits Cles
The Agency has concluded two development programmes with the Consortium, involving 13.4 million in funding. A third project, worth approximately 26.4 million, is currently being finalised.
From the Cles factory to the world’s first cable car dedicated to transporting apples: these are the two development programmes that Invitalia has completed since 2024 in partnership with the Melinda Consortium. Both were visited by the Agency’s chief executive, Bernardo Mattarella. Together, they have brought 37.5 million in investment to the region, against 13.4 million in subsidies granted: just over one euro of public funding for every three invested.
The Consortium brings together around 4,000 fruit-growing families across 16 co-operatives and recorded a turnover of 375.6 million in 2025. In Trentino, since 2015, Invitalia has approved 11 development contracts, involving 326 million in investment and 74 million in subsidies. In the neighbouring Province of Bolzano, there are 23 contracts, involving 485 million in investment and 132 million in subsidies. Nationwide, the total stands at 703 contracts, with 33.6 billion in investment and 12.1 billion in subsidies.
The first programme is worth around 27.5 million, with 9.4 million in funding granted by Invitalia on behalf of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. It involved the expansion of the Cles plant, with new lines for grading, sorting, packaging and handling. The project also includes process control software and equipment for the treatment of process water.
The second is the Funivia delle Mele cable car, built in collaboration with the Leitner Group and due to open at the end of August 2025. The investment totals 10 million, with approximately 4 million coming from PNRR funds managed by the Ministry of Agriculture. The cableway is 1.3 kilometres long, with a vertical rise of almost 90 metres, and connects the processing plant in Predaia to the underground storage chambers of the Rio Maggiore mine. It transports 460 300-kilo containers every hour. According to the Consortium, it avoids over 5,000 lorry journeys a year, and the natural cold storage ensures a 30 per cent energy saving compared with traditional warehouses.
The visit, Mattarella explained, provides an opportunity to see ‘how support for investment translates into innovation, more efficient facilities and new opportunities for an entire supply chain’. In a mountainous area, he added, this also means supporting agricultural work and the upkeep of the local environment. According to the CEO, the value of public support is measured “by the strength of businesses, their capacity for innovation and the job opportunities they create”. The Consortium’s president, Ernesto Seppi, described Invitalia as a “swift, efficient” agency, capable of supporting businesses with their investments.
