Process digitalization
A map of processes and information flows, reconciliations done by hand turned into rules, the existing systems integrated, and the people trained to run them.
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Food manufacturing
Strategic and operational consulting for the food industry
AC Retail Advisory works with owners, chief executives and general managers of food manufacturing and processing companies, with second- and third-generation entrepreneurs running the family business, and with founders of food startups in a scaling phase.
«Quality is never an accident: it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives.»
William A. Foster
The problems we get called about
01We get the call when revenue grows and margin falls.
What we look at
Margin by SKU, customer and channel. Industrial cost, mix and commercial terms.
How we work
We rebuild the P&L at the level where decisions are actually made, and isolate the part of the portfolio consuming the margin the rest produces.
The decision
What to push, what to correct, what to stop doing.
02We get the call when costs rise faster than prices.
What we look at
Raw material as a share of full cost, price architecture, terms by customer and by channel.
How we work
We measure how much of the increase has already been absorbed, and build the pass-through scenarios customer by customer.
The decision
Which customers and which SKUs to reprice, by how much, and with what expected effect on margin.
03We get the call when the customer grows and asks for more every year.
What we look at
Real customer profitability: allowances, promotions, yields, logistics and the working capital that customer absorbs.
How we work
We rebuild the P&L by customer and by SKU, and set the threshold beyond which the agreement stops producing margin.
The decision
Whether that customer should be developed, renegotiated or scaled back, with the number behind the choice.
04We get the call when a market closes and they have to decide where to grow.
What we look at
The real size of accessible channels and markets, portfolio concentration, the capital each option absorbs.
How we work
We compare the options on the same criteria: expected return, horizon, cash absorption, industrial risk.
The decision
Where to invest, in what order, and which arenas are better left alone.
05We get the call when the plant has to carry the growth.
What we look at
Available capacity by line, saturation, yields, waste and processing cost per SKU.
How we work
We measure the capacity that actually exists and how much is lost to changeovers, stoppages and waiting, and we allocate plant costs on verified bases.
The decision
Which SKUs deserve capacity, in what order, and whether to make or buy.
What the sector numbers say
Italian food processing works between two pressures: a fragmented production base and a private label that keeps gaining ground. Four figures describe the field of play, and each one reaches the company as a decision to be taken.
4.6%The average return on sales of the Italian food industry in 2025, down from 6.6% in 2024.
What it means
Roughly a third of the average operating margin eroded in twelve months. The room to absorb a pricing or mix error narrowed by the same amount.
The problem it creates
With thin margins, across-the-board cost cutting becomes the fastest answer and the riskiest one: it hits the SKUs that produce the margin too.
How we address it
We rebuild margin by SKU, customer and channel down to break-even, so that cost reduction follows real profitability.
36%The volume share of private label in Italy, against 50% in the six largest European markets.
What it means
The fourteen-point gap shows how much ground private label can still gain on Italian shelves.
The problem it creates
The annual negotiation moves onto price, and a manufacturer who does not know its own full cost gives margin away without noticing.
How we address it
We build the price architecture by channel and the forward-looking customer P&L before the negotiation, with the threshold beyond which the deal stops producing margin.
85%Italian food and beverage companies with fewer than ten employees.
What it means
Across 52,414 active companies, the large majority runs production without a management structure dedicated to control and planning: micro-enterprises employ 28.5% of the workforce and generate 10% of the sector's value added.
The problem it creates
Industrial choices — capacity, mix, investment — are made on experience, and the result only shows up after the fact.
How we address it
We build a control system proportionate to the size of the company, one the people already there keep using after the engagement ends.
15%Italian food companies that export.
What it means
For 85% of them, growth depends on the domestic market and on a small number of customers.
The problem it creates
Portfolio concentration exposes the P&L to a single negotiation, and opening a new channel gets postponed until margin is already compromised.
How we address it
We compare growth options on the same criteria — expected return, horizon, cash absorption, industrial risk — and set their sequence.
Sources verified September 2026.
Return on sales: Food Industry Monitor 2026 (UNISG / Ceresio Investors) · Private label: Circana, April 2026 · Company size: ISTAT, 2022 · Export: Nomisma, 2023.
Areas of work
The five areas of expertise of AC Retail Advisory, in the shape they take inside a food manufacturing company.
01
Strategy and growth
Strategy and industrial plan, growth and scaling decisions, allocation of capital across product lines, production capacity and markets.
02
Operations and organization
The organization that carries growth: roles and responsibilities across production, sales and administration, process standards and productivity. Process digitalization comes in here, as a lever.
03
Management control and margin
Full industrial and commercial cost by SKU, customer and channel, management reporting and analytical break-even, at the frequency the decision cycle requires.
04
Business development
The economics of each channel — modern grocery, Ho.Re.Ca., traditional trade, export — price architecture and the structure of the sales organization.
05
Manufacturing operations
Production capacity, yields and mix, plant saturation and the rebuilt processing cost for each individual SKU.
How we work
We start from the concrete problem, read the numbers and settle with management the decision to be taken. Then we build the execution path and stay with it until it lands.
Cross-cutting enablers
The five areas describe where we work; the cross-cutting enablers describe how we make the model more governable and replicable.
Training and leadership development
In a manufacturing company, margin is defended on the shop floor. We train the roles that run the lines and the teams — production managers, department heads, shift leaders — on reading the numbers of their own unit, on running meetings and one-to-ones, and on the move from operator to manager.
Go to Training and leadership development →Cases and results
The projects run in food manufacturing are collected in the dedicated section, with the starting context, the work done and what was delivered. Among them, the business plan and the industrialized pricing model across the grocery, traditional trade and foodservice channels for Cappellini, and the opening of the first direct retail channel for Fiorital.
Who works on the engagement
Andrea Calistri, founder of AC Retail Advisory, leads the engagement. The team is assembled around the scope and introduced to the client before the work begins.
Frequently asked questions
It connects the strategic decision to its economic proof and to its execution: where margin is made, which price holds in each channel, how much production capacity is needed, which investments pay back. The work runs through to the tools the company keeps using after delivery.
Both. The margin on a product is built across purchasing, production, price and channel. Looking at one side alone produces conclusions that do not survive the year-end.
No. Where it is missing, rebuilding full cost per SKU is the first piece of work.
Yes. Generational transition is one of the most frequent situations, and it concerns the structure as much as the control system.
Yes. At that stage the work covers the industrial plan, building the channels, and the organizational structure that has to carry the growth.
