UniCredit backs organic retailer EcorNaturaSì with €20M biodiversity-linked loan
What's the deal? UniCredit has closed a €20 million financing deal for EcorNaturaSìDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Italian leader in organic and biodynamic products, which runs over 350 NaturaSì-branded stores across Italy.
The funds will refinance the group's debt and back the expansion and upgrade of its retail network. That includes automated logistics, advanced IT systems, and greater energy sustainability.
Why now? The loan uses a sustainability-linked structure, adjusting the interest rate based on whether EcorNaturaSì hits specific biodiversity targets.
Structured with UniCredit's ESG Advisory team, the deal rewards a business model already built around protecting biodiversity, preserving soil fertility, and supporting eco-conscious producers.
“The biodiversity protection we pursue every day is starting to gain social and, above all, financial recognition, as this sustainability-linked loan demonstrates,” said Fausto Jori, chief executive officer of EcorNaturaSì.
Jori added that organic and biodynamic farming delivers ecosystem services beyond emissions cuts, including carbon retention in soil, or “carbon farming.”
The signal: By linking loan pricing to biodiversity outcomes, UniCredit is treating natural capital as a driver of long-term, resilient growth — a signal that sustainability-linked financing is moving beyond carbon metrics to reward mature businesses like EcorNaturaSì whose entire model already depends on protecting ecosystems.
Read more: UniCredit Group
