Barilla to shake-up domestic pasta production

Barilla to shake-up domestic pasta production

Dean Best

Mon, September 21, 2026 at 3:49 PM GMT+3 3 min read

Barilla is in talks to sell three production sites in Italy as part of plans to revamp its manufacturing in the south of the country.

The Italy-based group said the moves would help the company "stay competitive in a challenging market".

Family-owned Barilla, one of the world's largest pasta manufacturers, is in talks to sell a factory in Marcianise to local rival Pastificio Liguori.

The business is also in negotiations to sell mills in Ancona and Bari to Italian miller Molino Casillo.

Barilla described the discussions as "advanced".

The company is planning to create a "new pasta production hub" in the city of Foggia. Barilla plans to invest €100m ($114.8m) to build a mill to support the existing pasta plant.

In a statement, the group said the move, scheduled to be completed in 2030, would "deliver significant improvements in sustainability, logistics and production efficiency to serve both domestic and international markets".

Barilla said the project would create jobs but did not disclose details. Just Food has approached the company for more information on the investment.

"This move addresses the need to improve our logistics and production efficiency – an essential factor for remaining competitive in the challenging pasta market," Giovanni Palopoli, head of operations for pasta solutions at Barilla, said in the statement.

The company's revenues fell slightly in 2025, landing at €4.83bn, compared to €4.88bn a year earlier. Pasta accounted for more than 46% of sales.

In Barilla's annual report for 2025, the company said pressure on household income had led to "aggressive price competition", which had "led to the need for rapid adjustments aimed at streamlining operations".

Nevertheless, Barilla's pre-tax profits increased 25% to €342m. The group's consolidated profit for the year was €233m, an increase of more than 64% on 12 months earlier.

The annual report showed Barilla had a combined 15 plants and mills in Italy last year. It also has 15 production sites overseas, including in North America, Europe and Russia.

In May, Barilla set out plans to expand a factory in New York state to "meet growing demand" in the US.

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"Barilla to shake-up domestic pasta production" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand.