If quality is not only in the glass: the Caprai winery awarded for social inclusion

It has helped make society more inclusive toward those who have been forced to flee wars, violence, and persecution: the Umbrian winery Arnaldo Caprai, which brought Sagrantino di Montefalco back to prominence on the international stage, has received, for the fourth consecutive time, the “Welcome. Working for Refugee Integration” Award, a program by Unhcr Italy which promotes the inclusion of refugees in the labor market of our country. “Receiving this recognition for the fourth time - underlines Marco Caprai, president & ceo of Arnaldo Caprai - confirms that ethics and the value of human capital are never secondary to technological innovation. Agriculture 4.0 and digitization are often discussed as drivers of the future, but they are merely enablers: the beating heart of the company remains the individual. Integrating those who are more vulnerable is not an act of charity, but a highly strategic business practice. Today, investors and stakeholders reward this consistency: they know that a company capable of generating social inclusion is more solid, resilient, and able to create long-term value, precisely because it has placed ethical foundations at the center of every production process”.
This vision highlights how, for the Caprai winery, “digital” and “land” are tools serving a broader project, in which corporate social responsibility becomes the true multiplier of economic and reputational value for the company in the global market. “Caprai commitment to refugee inclusion is so unique in the agricultural sector that it has received the “Welcome. Working for Refugee Integration” Award as many as four times. This is one of the virtuous practices implemented by Marco Caprai and his team that convinced us to invest in the company, and we will certainly strive to introduce it in the other wineries of the Angelini Wines & Estates group”, comments Alberto Lusini, ceo of Angelini Wines & Estates (a division of the Angelini Industries Group, ed), which acquired 65% of Arnaldo Caprai in an operation representing an important signal for the wine sector.
Since 2016, Arnaldo Caprai has established a collaboration with Caritas of Foligno and other local social organizations to support the integration of immigrants into the workforce. To date, over 200 asylum seekers have found employment at the Montefalco company throughout different periods of the year, and the collaboration has delivered excellent results. Refugees are hired as agricultural workers, fully in compliance with regulations, and take part in all company activities—from vine pruning to grape harvesting, in the fields or in the cellar, and on average they work up to 180 days per year. In this model, Marco Caprai acts as a pioneer who has understood a fundamental truth of the contemporary market: quality is no longer only in the glass, but in the entire human supply chain that produces it. With this project, he is not only cultivating vineyards, but also a new paradigm of agricultural entrepreneurship and social sustainability. The integration promoted by Arnaldo Caprai has proven to be successful: it is worth noting that 60% of the migrants have remained permanently employed by the company, demonstrating that welcoming initiatives can be transformed into a benefit for both the territory and the business.