Italian agrifood: record for 2021 exports (52 billion euros), confidence for 2022

An all-time record for agri-food exports is now established, at over 52 billion euros, in 2021, driven by wine, which, with over 7 billion, is worth 14% of the total. However, meat and meat products, coffee, chocolate and cheese, fresh fruit and vegetables, olive oil, tomato products and pasta are also growing at double-digit rates compared to 2020, but especially to 2019. However, beyond the economic data, which is fundamental, the year that has just ended gives the image of a Made in Italy that, despite the many difficulties of our times, and the last two years of the pandemic, comes out even stronger in terms of positioning, image and appreciation by consumers around the world. An element that is a stimulus to address factors ranging from geopolitical tensions to energy, transport and commodity costs that continue to remain high. This emerges from Forum Agrifood Monitor no. 6, organised by Nomisma, in collaboration with Crif, today in Bologna, with, among others, Paolo De Castro, Euro MP, Alessandro Guerini, export director of the Santa Margherita Wine Group, Fabio Maccari, CEO of the Salov Group, and Silvia Mandara, vice-president of the Consorzio di Tutela della Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop.
The figures for Italian agri-food exports reveal +11% in 2021 compared to 2020, and +15% compared to 2019, the last pre-Covid year, with performances above those of direct competitors such as France and Germany, which remained below 10% (+8% and +5% respectively). “2021 will be remembered as an extraordinary year for Italian agri-food exports, thanks to a growth that involved all products, leading to increases in Italy’s market share in many world markets in the light of performances superior to those of our direct competitors”, said Denis Pantini, Head of Agri-Food at Nomisma. Among the main outlet markets for Italian agri-food products, the United States and Canada recorded an increase in value of 20% compared to the pre-pandemic situation (2019), in Germany our exports grew by 15%, while the highest variations were achieved in South Korea (+60%) and China (+46%), although in the latter country our market share continues to remain marginal (less than 2% of the value of total agri-food imports from the Asian country).
“Even in the post-Brexit UK, purchases of Italian food products have not decreased, leading to a growth of our market share from 5.6% to 6.3%, in a trend of reduction of total food&beverage imports”, concludes Pantini. And it was the United Kingdom, together with another market that is completely at the antipodes, Australia, that represented the focus of the Forum: if for the United Kingdom the choice of a more detailed examination came from the possible impacts post Brexit, for Australia the objective was to understand the potential for Italian agri-food products in view of a future free trade agreement currently under negotiation. Hence the creation of a double survey involving 2,000 consumers.
From the surveys it emerged, first of all, that Italian food & beverage has an excellent appeal: for both Australian and, above all, British consumers, Italian food products are the most appreciated foreign ones thanks in particular to their taste and excellent quality (35% in the UK and 23% in Australia indicate this). This perception is also due to the excellence of our foodstuffs that are exported to these countries and which are well known to consumers: in the UK Prosecco is the leader in terms of notoriety, followed by Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma. In Australia, Parmigiano Reggiano is at the top of the list, closely followed by Prosecco and Chianti. In both countries, e-commerce for food & beverage is widespread: 34% often use the Internet to buy food and beverages, a percentage that rises to 45% among the British. The web is also used to acquire information on products to be consumed (characteristics, history of the producer, places of production): 40% of consumers in both markets do so.
In addition to being digital addicts, consumers in these two important markets are particularly sensitive to sustainability issues, a phenomenon that has been growing in recent years. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, it has become important to 6 out of 10 consumers that the food they put in their shopping carts has sustainable packaging or has been produced in an environmentally friendly way or according to ethical standards (such as increased attention to workers’ rights). “Sustainability and digital are two levers to be exploited by Italian food companies that want to export to Australia and the UK, also in light of what is the identikit of the consumer of food made in Italy”, explains Emanuele Di Faustino, Senior Project Manager Nomisma. “In both markets, heavy users of Italian products have a well-defined profile: they are millennials, well-educated and with high incomes, living in big cities (London and Sydney) and, above all, sustainability-conscious and digitally engaged”.
After a record-breaking 2021, however, the hardest part comes now. In addition to the ongoing geopolitical tensions between various countries around the world, the inflationary tensions that remain in energy, transport and commodity costs put at risk the competitive advantage gained by Italian food companies in the last year. “Exports are definitely an opportunity. The pandemic has accelerated some processes that had already been underway for several years”, says Niccolò Zuffetti, marketing manager at Cribis. “The real issue is to invest in preparation and the right tools because improvising in this area can be very risky. Selection and training of key roles, selection and management of the right partners, risk management and good communication are the winning levers”.
Bringing the vision of the wine world was Alessandro Guerini, export director of the Gruppo Vinicolo Santa Margherita, one of the most important realities of Italian wine, belonging to the Marzotto family. “In 2021 we saw extraordinary results, these days we had Europe in lockdown and restrictive measures that lasted a long time, I don’t know how many would have bet on it. Apart from the economic aspect, the signal of confidence given to the sector is important; we realized that we knew how to manage even a situation like the pandemic, achieving growth. It is clear that there is not the linearity seen until 2019, the end of a decade of steady growth. It is a growth made up of peaks, so we have to learn to plan in shorter time frames. As Santa Margherita, we are present in many important appellations for the sector, from Prosecco to Chianti Classico, from Lugana to Pinot Grigio, and everywhere, in January 2022, there was double-digit growth in bottling. This does not automatically translate into sales, but it is a tangible sign of confidence. It is clear that there are many elements of uncertainty, from energy costs to the Russia and Ukraine issue, there is the problem of the global supply chain, there are no ships to be found, and there is a problem with raw materials, not only in terms of rising prices, but also in the availability of glass, aluminum and so on. So there may be a slowdown, but I believe that, in the end, 2022 could be a positive year, consolidating the growth of 2021. Although a big unknown factor will be to see how consumers around the world react to the price increases of many wines that are being recorded and that will be passed on to consumers”.