The expensive energy enters the glass: prices of water and wine increase

The expensive energy enters the glass, with price increases ranging from +11% for mineral water to +10.5% for fruit juices, up to +7% for soda under pressure due to the high costs of extracting carbon dioxide for food use. This is what the Coldiretti analysis says on the latest Istat data on inflation, which underline how the strong increases in production costs are also recorded for the most common alcoholic beverages, from beer to wine. To wieght are the costs of production in fields and vineyards, ranging from +170% of fertilizers to +129% for diesel, passing through +300% of bills to pump water for irrigating crops, but the expensive energy and lack of raw materials are felt throughout the supply chain, along with the increase in costs for packaging, pallets, plastic containers, glass, metal, labels and caps.

Indirect costs that - highlights Coldiretti - range from glass, increased by 30% more than last year, to tetrapack, with an increase of 15%, from + 35% of labels to + 45% for cardboard, from + 10% costs for cans up to + 70% for plastic. A situation that is destined to explode in the autumn, with a predictable jump in sales lists that concerns the entire agri-food chain, which from the fields to the table is worth 575 billion euros, almost a quarter of the national GDP, and sees 4 million workers present in 740,000 farms, 70,000 food industries, over 330,000 catering companies and 230,000 retail outlets, according to Coldiretti analysis.

To increase producer prices is the expensive energy, which is burden on production costs also in the agri-food sector, which absorbs over 11% of total industrial energy consumption, for about 13.3 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) per year. The food sector requires large amounts of energy, especially heat and electricity, for the processes of production, transformation, conservation of products of animal and vegetable origin, the operation of machines and the air conditioning of production and work environments (8.6 Mtoe). This is a heavy energy bill - concludes Coldiretti - despite the fact that over time there has been a containment of energy consumption thanks to new techniques and the commitment of farmers to greater sustainability of production also with the adoption of 4.0 technologies to optimize the use of production factors.

“There is no time to lose and we cannot wait for the elections and the new government but we must intervene immediately on the increases in energy prices that put at risk businesses and families in sectors vital for the Country”, comments the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini, in underlining that “with the autumn price increases together with the production system over 2.6 million people in Italy are forced to ask for help to eat and represent the tip of the iceberg of the difficulties in which a growing number of families are likely to find due to inflation driven by rising energy and food costs”.