The Lido di Camaiore Fruit and Vegetable Market was officially opened on 21 July 2026. Following months of construction work, the facility on Via Italica is now one of the most advanced agri-food hubs in Tuscany, the result of a €6 million project funded by the PNRR involving over 30 companies. For Incide Engineering, which oversaw the integrated design of the project in partnership with AI PROGETTI S.R.L. of Venice and the architectural practice Gottardo Associati of Rubano, this marks the culmination of a process that began with the award of the contract for the improvement of the market’s logistics capacity, and has now become a concrete case study of building regeneration applied to agri-food logistics.
The project, which required services for technical and economic feasibility design, detailed design, health and safety coordination during the design and construction phases (CSP and CSE) and construction supervision, centred on a strategic facility for the Versilia fruit and vegetable supply chain: 22 spaces for wholesalers, 20 for local producers, an annual throughput of around 150,000 quintals of goods and a turnover of 20 million euros. These figures explain why the Municipality of Camaiore chose to intervene on a facility that had remained essentially unchanged for over 50 years, aiming for a radical technological and environmental leap forward.
From the award of the contract to the inauguration: Incide’s contribution
The detailed design drawn up by Incide Engineering involved a range of measures across several areas: energy efficiency, logistics automation and the reorganisation of internal traffic flow.
Among the elements that took shape on site:
- A 179 kWp photovoltaic system, installed on top of the new cold store structure and integrated with storage batteries, to ensure the gradual energy self-sufficiency of the entire complex;
- External thermal insulation on the building’s main walls, serving both to reduce energy consumption and to improve the efficiency of the photovoltaic system;
- New cold store facility covering 730 square metres, comprising nine state-of-the-art cold stores connected to the main building via covered walkways, replacing the existing cold stores that were dismantled during the works;
- complete replacement of the air-conditioning systems with high-efficiency systems and a full switch to LED technology for interiors, offices and outdoor areas;
- automation of goods handling, with the introduction of autonomous robotic forklift trucks to transfer goods to and from the cold stores, now operational;
- reorganisation of the internal traffic flow, with a new dedicated access point for heavy goods vehicles from Via Brasile and a one-way traffic management system;
- new lorry weighbridge to speed up loading and unloading operations;
- new changing rooms for market staff, equipped with toilets, showers and communal areas.
Furthermore, the site’s facilities are complemented by the introduction of electric vehicles with associated charging points for zero-emission deliveries, and the launch of an e-commerce platform equipped with artificial intelligence for digital order management.
An integrated engineering project supporting the short supply chain
The multidisciplinary design applied to logistics infrastructure of this kind has a direct impact on the competitiveness of local production systems. During the inauguration, the President of the Tuscany Region, Eugenio Giani, recognised the value of a PNRR project completed on schedule, capable of strengthening the short supply chain processes that promote the region’s agricultural produce.
For Incide Engineering, the Camaiore project represents a prime example of how structural engineering, system engineering and energy engineering can converge within a single design process, from feasibility studies right through to site supervision.
A wholesale market is a complex system where logistics, the cold chain, food safety and energy efficiency must work in harmony without compromise: the ability to balance these variables, from the detailed design stage through to the construction site, is what distinguishes a refurbishment project from a genuine infrastructure regeneration scheme.
Total investment: €6,000,000 (PNRR funds)
More than 30 companies involved in the construction site
Area of new cold stores: 730 square metres
Number of cold stores: 9
Photovoltaic system capacity: 179 kWp
Spaces for wholesalers: 22
Spaces for local producers: 20
Annual volume of goods handled: approximately 150,000 quintals
Annual turnover of the market: approximately €20,000,000
The opening of the Lido di Camaiore Fruit and Vegetable Market confirms a replicable model for medium-sized agri-food infrastructure projects: integrated design and coordinated management of safety and construction phases, with technical oversight managed by a single project lead, from the tender process right through to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
