The Department of Management Engineering at Politecnico di Milano participates in the FRUTTOSO project, an initiative funded by Regione Lombardia within the framework of the Rural Development Program Lombardia 2023–2027, with the objective of supporting the development and enhancement of innovative solutions for the agri-food sector.

The project aims to disseminate information and knowledge, through demonstrative and informational actions, on new agronomic techniques, non-destructive methods for assessing product quality, and innovative solutions for production diversification. The objective is to strengthen the competitiveness and market orientation of agricultural companies in Valtellina. The adoption of the proposed solutions can generate significant economic advantages, fostering a more efficient management of company resources.

Several entities with complementary expertise and infrastructures are involved in the project:

• CREA-IT, FRUTTOSO coordinator, provides storage and ripening chambers for fruit and vegetable products, facilities for conventional and solar drying, as well as a laboratory for sensory analysis and instrumentation for assessing the chemical, physicochemical, biochemical, and sensory quality of fruit and vegetable products;
• Fondazione Fojanini contributes with an experimental farm, equipment for field trials, and spaces for training and dissemination activities;
• CNR-IFN participates through the Photonics for Agri-Food Laboratory, offering instrumentation and expertise for time-resolved diffuse optical spectroscopy measurements in the near-infrared range, as well as software for physical modeling and data analysis;
• Politecnico di Milano (DIG) complements the partnership with expertise in strategy, innovation, and marketing.

The team from the Department of Management Engineering at Politecnico di Milano will be engaged along two main lines. On the one hand, the economic feasibility analysis, aimed at assessing the sustainability of the proposed solutions and supporting the partners’ strategic decision-making. On the other hand, the design and implementation of tests with end consumers, with the objective of analyzing the acceptance of the new products, understanding their impact on user experience, and collecting evidence to support the optimization of the solutions developed.

Here the social media pages dedicated to FRUTTOSO:

• Facebook
• Instagram