Luca Granata, general director of Italian apple marketer Melinda and one of the most respected members of the country’s fresh produce business, is to leave the company – apparently with plans to take up a new role at a co-operative in Emilia Romagna.
The consortium’s president Michele Odorizzi confirmed in a statement that Granata had handed in his resignation during a meeting of the Melinda board earlier this week, apparently expressing a desire “pursue other professional goals”.
The departure will not be immediate, however. According to Odorizzi, Granata will continue in his current role for the time being in order to oversee existing projects and to guarantee an “effective and speedy” handover.
The president also thanked Granata for his contribution to Melinda and his achievements during his 13 years at the consortium’s helm.
He added: “The board of directors maintains that, thanks to the excellent work carried out over the years and its close collaboration with management staff, the consortium’s organisation is very strong and therefore perfectly able to carry out the current year’s usual tasks and also to identify organisational solutions quickly that can be adopted in the future.”
Founded in 1998 by co-operatives based in the Val di Non area of Italy's Trentino province, Melinda now brings together around 4,000 apple individual apple producers, selling their fruit to retail and wholesale under a range of brands both in Italy and abroad.
More recently, Granata himself has led the consortium's expansion into a number of new product areas, including value-added products such as dried apple slices, mousses and snack bars, as well as helping to diversify its range to include fresh berries and cherries.
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