Harnessing aerospace technology to improve energy efficiency, a pilot project at our Parma plant

We’ve kicked off a pilot project at our Parma plant destined to spark something of a revolution. It streamlines the way we manage production processes, specifically those involving cooling energy, which is one of the biggest sources of energy consumption in the food sector.

To do this, we rolled out a long-established aerospace technology to reduce consumption and emissions, demonstrating that pioneering innovation has exciting and genuinely useful applications when it comes to food.

It is a one-of-a-kind, cutting-edge solution that could reduce the CO₂ emissions connected with cooling processes by at least 20% per year compared to other traditional technologies.

For this project, we sought help from STEP, an innovation hub that scouts, selects and implements technologies for industrial decarbonization.

With STEP, we have developed a last-generation compression system designed to eliminate friction between mechanical parts and run efficiently even when the plant is working at reduced capacity, consuming an average of 35% less power each year. It uses a coolant gas with nearly no environmental impact, in line with European climate regulations, and decreases the moving mechanical parts by up to 80%, for dramatically lower maintenance costs (a life-cycle reduction of ~40%).

This project is more than a mere tech upgrade – it’s one of the first models of how technology borrowed from the aerospace industry can lead to real innovation, even in a complex industry like the food sector.

It also strengthens Morato Group’s position in innovation, sustainability and environmental responsibility.

At the same time, it brings STEP closer to the fulfilment of its mission of helping to cut the CO₂ emissions of Italy’s industrial sector by 5 million tonnes with replicable solutions.

The pilot project in Parma fits into the Group’s broader energy transition, aimed at:

• reducing CO₂ emissions to 2,472 tonnes by 2026
• improving our energy performance through both self-production from renewable sources (solar power) and energy efficiency
• optimizing resources and operating costs.

It also paves the way to future applications as we evaluate extending this model to the Group’s other production plants as well. We could very well replicate this project, maximizing its impact on the transition to a more sustainable food chain.