Frozen meat distribution: Proda gets exclusive rights from Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods is targeting the European market, and the Italian market in particular. And it does so by strengthening its alliance with Proda, the fresh and frozen food distributor with which it already collaborates, and to which it has now entrusted the exclusivity of its products for Italy and Malta. An agreement that allows the Parma-based company to increase its offer in the world of meat (with which it achieves about 9% of its turnover) thanks to quality products with high added value (such as processed poultry products) and the American multinational to strengthen its market presence and its distribution capillarity, particularly among retailers, foodservice and independent wholesalers of frozen food.

"We are proud to have been chosen by Tyson Foods and determined to continue along the growth path undertaken over the years, which ensures efficiency, quality and innovation to our partners and customers," comments the General Manager of Proda, Paola Galli. "From today onwards, a collaboration begins for us that envisages precise development steps and that in the first year alone has the objective of exceeding 5 million kg of meat sold for approximately 37 million euros in receipts.

The deal will be handled by the new dedicated business unit, launched by Proda as a cost and development centre and for which the company has hired eight new employees. Other investments are already announced in integrated logistics, in which Proda excels thanks to its integrated partnership with Evo Logistics. At its 11 platforms (which will be expanded in the short term to meet the constant growth in volumes), 13 million kg of foodstuffs were handled in 2023 for over 32 thousand deliveries throughout Italy.

The one between the American protein giant (142.The agreement between the American protein giant (142,000 employees, 123 factories and a turnover of approximately 53 billion dollars) and the Emilian company (44 employees and 60 million euro revenues 2024) is not simply a commercial agreement, but rather an all-round collaboration, ranging from market analysis for the development of products 'built' on the preferences and needs of Italian consumers (especially in terms of convenience) to the development of new segments, such as gluten-free, and marketing and logistics.

Therefore, the agreement with Tyson Foods opens a new chapter in the long history of Proda, founded in 1969 by the Giorgi, Rossi and Zappettini families (still present in the board of directors), and which has gone from the initial business of slaughtering and processing chicken meat to brokering, preservation and distribution of fresh and frozen food from all over the world and destined for wholesalers, large-scale distribution, collective catering and industries. An expanding business, which in the last three years has grown year on year in double figures (+14% even in 2024) and which makes no secret of its desire to continue to expand (at least 100 million euro in revenues forecast for 2025) and to invest in the Italian market. And not only.