Antonio Sada & Figli appoints Antonio Dalessandri as CEO

The Italian corrugated packaging sector continues to professionalize its executive ranks as historic regional players gear up for a highly competitive market. Sada Group has officially confirmed the appointment of Antonio Dalessandri as the new Chief Executive Officer of Antonio Sada & Figli, marking a significant leadership transition for the century-old company.

Dalessandri steps into the role with a robust pedigree in the corrugated industry, bringing over 25 years of experience. His background includes extensive tenure at multinational giants, most notably serving as North West & Specialty Cluster Director for South-East EMEA at DS Smith, as well as earlier management roles at SCA Packaging. This move signals a clear intent from Sada Group to inject Tier-1 multinational operational discipline into its expanding regional footprint.

A strategic footprint in the Italian market

While not a global Tier-1 conglomerate, Antonio Sada & Figli has established itself as a formidable benchmark in Southern Italy's packaging production. The company currently operates through a solid industrial infrastructure comprising three manufacturing plants and two subsidiaries. Beyond sheer capacity, the firm has heavily invested in latest-generation machinery and maintains a dedicated R&D department focused on innovative packaging design.

In a corporate statement, the company emphasized that Dalessandri's arrival is designed to "accompany the company towards new challenges and new goals," leveraging his deep understanding of strategic areas across the corrugated value chain. His mandate will likely focus on optimizing the existing three-plant network, driving sales growth, and maximizing the return on recent technological investments, such as their ongoing integration of advanced ERP systems like Dynapack and recent press room upgrades.

The broader European context

Dalessandri's appointment reflects a broader trend across the European corrugated landscape in 2026. Mid-sized, historically family-rooted industrial companies are increasingly recruiting top-tier executive talent to navigate a market characterized by margin pressures, rapid digitalization, and the demand for complex, sustainable packaging solutions. For a company like Antonio Sada & Figli, which successfully transitioned from wooden packaging to corrugated cardboard in the 1960s and has continuously evolved since, bringing in a CEO with Dalessandri's multinational background is the logical next step to protect and expand its market share against larger consolidating forces.

The transition of leadership in independent European corrugated companies is rarely just an administrative change; it is a declaration of intent. Dalessandri's deep expertise in sales improvement, key account management, and manufacturing operations positions Antonio Sada & Figli to compete aggressively not just on volume, but on technical capability and service agility. Will this injection of multinational executive experience be the catalyst that pushes regional champions to capture market share from the industry giants? Follow The Paper for daily news, market signals and key updates from the global paper, corrugated and packaging industry. — Sigue toda la actualidad del sector en www.thepaper.ai