PRIMA INDUSTRIES SRL

Their core work

Prima Industries is an Italian machinery manufacturer specializing in automated systems for cleaning and polishing bottles used in sparkling wine and champagne production. Their flagship product — the PPB system — targets the specific requirements of the champenoise method, where bottles undergo intensive handling, riddling, and disgorgement before release. The company develops industrial automation solutions for wineries, reducing manual labor and improving throughput in high-volume sparkling wine operations. Based in Correggio, a region known for precision manufacturing in the Emilia-Romagna industrial corridor, they combine mechanical engineering with food-sector process knowledge.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Prima Industries entered H2020 through the SME Instrument Phase 1 feasibility study in 2019, at which point no detailed technical keywords were recorded — typical for early-stage commercial viability work. Their Phase 2 development project (2020–2022) produced a rich keyword set that defines their technical identity: bottle treatment machinery, champenoise process, winery automation, cleaning and polishing. There is no real divergence in focus between the two projects — rather, this is a linear deepening of a single well-defined product, from concept validation to full development funding.

Prima Industries is on a focused product commercialization path — having secured both SME Instrument Phase 1 and Phase 2 for the same system, they are likely moving toward market launch and could be seeking distribution partners, industrial clients, or follow-on scale-up funding.

How they like to work

Prima Industries has acted exclusively as coordinator in both H2020 projects, which is expected for SME Instrument grants — a funding scheme designed for individual companies rather than consortia. They have no recorded consortium partners across either project, meaning there is no collaboration network to draw from. Any future consortium role would be their first, and they would likely enter as a technology provider or end-user rather than a project leader in multi-partner settings.

Prima Industries has no recorded consortium partners across their H2020 portfolio — both projects were solo SME Instrument grants where consortium participation is not required. Their collaboration footprint is effectively zero, confined entirely to their own innovation pipeline.

What sets them apart

Prima Industries occupies a narrow but commercially clear niche: automated machinery specifically designed for sparkling wine bottle handling, a segment largely overlooked by general industrial automation suppliers. Their EU-funded development of the PPB system signals that the technology has passed a formal feasibility gate and received significant development funding — giving potential buyers more confidence than an unfunded prototype would. For winery equipment buyers or distributors targeting the French, Italian, or Spanish sparkling wine markets, this is a validated product-in-development from a specialist manufacturer.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PPB
  Secured the full SME Instrument Phase 1 → Phase 2 progression, receiving €554,925 in Phase 2 development funding — strong EU validation of commercial potential for their bottle automation system.
• PPB
  The Phase 1 feasibility study (€50,000, 2019) is notable as the entry point that unlocked the larger Phase 2 grant, demonstrating a deliberate EU funding strategy rather than opportunistic applications.