Obituary: Antonio Biancardi

It is with great sadness that we learned that Antonio Biancardi, founder and President of Solana S.p.A. from 2001 to 2024, passed away on 22 September 2026, at the age of 77, after an illness. Solana is the tomato processing company based in the province of Lodi, northern Italy.

Antonio Biancardi was born in Milan on 18 February 1949. He grew up between Codogno and Maccastorna, where his family had farmed since the late 19th century, running a livestock farm established in 1925. In 1967 he earned his diploma in agriculture from the Istituto Tecnico Agrario in Codogno, and he went on to run the family farm.

A farmer and entrepreneur with a modern vision of agriculture, he took on many roles representing the farming sector. He first focused on beef production: from 1985 he chaired the Consorzio Nazionale Carni Bovine Garantite, and for more than twenty years he led the Lombardy Beef Federation.

Within Confagricoltura, he was President of the National Livestock Federation from 1994 to 2004 and President of Federlombarda, its Lombardy regional federation, from 1999 to 2004. He also gained deep experience in finance. He sat on the boards of several banks and financial institutions, including Cassa di Risparmio di Parma e Piacenza, Banca Ceriana, which he chaired, and Intesa Asset Management. Later he served on the Lodi Chamber of Commerce and on the General Council of Assolombarda, where he was also Vice-President of the Food Group.

Solana was born at a dinner in 2001. “I met him that evening, together with other farmers and entrepreneurs from Piacenza and Lodi,” recalls Antonio Casana, CEO of Solana. “He drew me into an idea that seemed ambitious at that time: to design and build a new processing plant in the Lodi area, bringing together farmers, equity investors and bank financing in a single agricultural joint-stock company. From that first evening I understood how much he believed in new projects, and with what determination he could take them on.”

His knowledge of both farming and finance made that model possible. The plant was financed through a project financing arrangement with Banca Intesa, a tool then almost unheard of in the farming world. Under his presidency, Solana grew into a processing hub serving B2B customers on domestic and international markets.

“Solana was one of the most significant projects of his life. He loved this company deeply, and that passion could be felt in every decision. He was an enthusiastic entrepreneur who loved the freedom of enterprise, respected rules and institutions, and never surrendered to difficulties or bureaucracy. He was firm in his ideas, yet he knew how to listen and how to delegate, which is never a given for a founder. It was precisely this balance that allowed the company to grow steadily, because decisions were carefully weighed and shared with the whole Board. He knew how to bring agriculture and industry together.“

In 2024 he sold his shareholding, but he remained close to the company. “He came to see us often, asked about new developments, about our employees and our customers, and always had words of encouragement. For all of us, those visits were a sign of affection and continuity. Today both our growers and our staff feel deep gratitude towards him.“

“He faced his illness with great courage and dignity,” Casana concludes. “Until his last months he still had many projects in mind. He never lost his confidence or his desire to live and to look ahead. That is how I will remember him: as a man who kept building until the very end, indomitable and always optimistic about the future.”

The processing tomato sector loses a pioneer and a true gentleman. We extend our most sincere condolences to his family and to everyone at Solana.

Sources: Il Cittadino di Lodi, Solana S.p.A.