Gourmet Italian Food

Who owns Gourmet Italian Food?

Gourmet Italian Food is currently owned by Chequers Capital through Chequers Capital XVIII (2022 vintage), since 2025. Across its history, Gourmet Italian Food has been through 2 private equity ownership periods, detailed in the timeline below.

Hand-verified · updated 2026-04-21

About Gourmet Italian Food

Gourmet Italian Food is an Italian food group headquartered near Verona that manufactures premium fresh ready meals and gastronomic products for the retail, HoReCa and B2B channels. Built as a buy-and-build platform, it aggregates specialist producers spanning chilled prepared dishes, savoury snacks, sandwiches, artisanal bread and dehydrated ready meals, and positions itself as a leader in Italy's fresh ready-meals segment. According to public disclosures tied to its 2025 ownership change, the group reached roughly EUR 140 million in revenue in 2024, employed more than 450 people and operated six production sites. Its portfolio of brands and product lines targets both branded retail shelves and private-label and foodservice customers, with a stated emphasis on the fresh and gourmet end of the category.

Ownership journey

The platform was assembled around businesses in Italy's chilled gastronomy sector, with FVS SGR backing the group through its Fondo Sviluppo PMI from 2018. In June 2021 the current structure took shape through the combination of Eurochef Italia and La Gastronomica, creating Gourmet Italian Food as a vehicle to consolidate high-quality ready-meals producers. Under this ownership the group expanded by acquisition, adding savoury-snack and sandwich maker Fabian, ultra-fresh specialist Cucina Nostrana and bread producer Deppieri, followed by Firma Italia in 2023 and the 100grammi brand in 2024. FVS SGR exited in 2025 via a secondary transaction, with the founding entrepreneurs and management reinvesting alongside the incoming backing. From 2025 the group is backed by Chequers Capital, investing through Chequers Capital XVIII, which remains its active sponsor.

Under PE ownership

Under the FVS SGR ownership the company was transformed from a set of standalone producers into a consolidated national platform, growing revenue from roughly EUR 17 million in 2019 to more than EUR 140 million by 2024. The strategy combined organic development of existing brands with a rapid sequence of bolt-on acquisitions across complementary categories, broadening the range from chilled ready meals into snacks, sandwiches, bread and dehydrated meals. This expansion widened the group's route to market across retail, hospitality and B2B customers and lifted headcount above 450 across six manufacturing sites. Following the 2025 secondary, the group under Chequers Capital has signalled a continuation of this buy-and-build approach, targeting further acquisitions to reinforce its position in the fresh and gourmet ready-meals market.