Colline e Oltre is a company committed to the promotion and valorisation of the Oltrepò Pavese: a hilly area, located in the south-western portion of Lombardy, of which it geographically occupies the southern band between Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. How important the food and beverage sector is for this area of Northern Italy is well highlighted by the numbers: with 3.9 billion euros, Lombardy is the first Italian region for added value in agriculture (11% of the Italian total). Pavia is the fifth province in Lombardy, again in terms of added value (with 328 million euros). And it is precisely in the greenest and most lush area of the Pavia countryside that we find the Oltrepò Pavese, with its 13,500 hectares of vineyards, with approx. 1,700 wineries and 3,500 agri-food businesses that express products of great excellence in their wise peasant tradition, including: cured meats with the famous Varzi PDO, saffron, mustard and jarred products, rice, honey, goat cheeses, the black truffle from Menconico and the white truffle from Casteggio, medicinal herbs and many vegetables and fruits unique for their organoleptic characteristics and flavours.
Colline e Oltre, established by Intesa Sanpaolo and Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lombardia with the aim of enhancing and promoting the Oltrepò Pavese, has formalized the entry of Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore into its shareholding structure. The new structure sees Intesa Sanpaolo at 51% of the share capital, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lombardia and Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore both at 24.5%. Colline e Oltre is now supported by Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore (or “FSVGDA”) – the strategic and operational arm of Fondazione Cariplo in the field of impact investing – which has invested approximately 300,000€ in the company between equity and an “impact SFP”, an innovative participatory financial instrument which, upon reaching pre-agreed impact objectives, transforms into an indistributable reserve of the company, thus incentivising the obtaining of social benefits and, at the same time, strengthening the company’s capital.