“Coop Report” 2024: health-conscious Italians, food choice comes more from the head than the belly

After the difficult years of soaring prices, which had put Italians’ purchases and their own food identity in deep trouble, in 2024 inflation went to zero and FMCG volumes returned after four years in the positive (+0.9% in the first half of the year over 2023). Looking only at the hyper, super and free service channels in the first half of 2024 volume sales were 3.9% higher than in 2019. Food remains, even in the forecasts, the only sector where cutting spending is an option for only a small minority of Italians and, indeed, 21% say they will increase their spending versus 10% who intend to decrease it. And if we look at the numbers related to wine, it continues to be, evidently, a small luxury, because it is part of those experiences in the global luxury market, worth 1,507 billion euros (+9%), that perform best with +5% growth for high-end wines and spirits worth 100 billion euros (source: Coop Nomisma Studies Office on Bain Company data). Italians declaring a food identity (+6% on 2023) are growing again in the same way (+6% on 2023), no longer just one, however, but multiple: more explorers than custodians, though in the groove of tradition, many are breaking free from an overly dogmatic approach and opening up to the discovery of new food styles. If 1 out of 3 Italians (34%), in fact, still favor the Mediterranean Diet, diets rich in non-animal proteins, of course, such as high-protein (7% of consumers, +2% over 2023), and all those weight-conscious styles, from fit sports (6%, +2%) to intermittent fasting (7%, +3%), without neglecting that the flexitarian, reducetarian and climatarian remain almost stable. Thus, on closer inspection, styles oriented toward well-being and sustainability prevail. After all, food has always been more of an end in itself for us Italians than the European average, and given the current proclivity, it is not surprising how our countrymen are far more focused on healthy eating than the rest of Europeans. Those who plan to strengthen this propensity outnumber those who decrease it by 36 percentage points, a difference higher than the European difference, which stands at 31 percentage points. And again, Italians are also the only ones, at least in words, who say they are willing to pay more for healthy products (overall and net of those who will not be willing, +15%, compared to an EU average stuck at +1%). In short, more and more the choice of food goes through the head rather than the belly and this explains many of the renunciations taking place, according to the digital preview of the “Coop Report 2024-Consumes and lifestyles of the Italians of today and tomorrow” edited by the Ancc-Coop Studies Office (Associazione Nazionale Cooperative di Consumatori-Coop (National Association of Consumer Cooperatives), and presented, today, in Milan.
A health redemption that does not leave at home even organic food that has returned after years of tarnishing among Italians’ desires: 24.8 million families are already buyers with a penetration of 96.6% and 9.6 million Italians will increase their purchase in the coming months. These new sensibilities also find a clear vanguard in the approach that the younger generations have towards food where pragmatism in the search for the lowest price (51% consider it the factor on which they base their purchasing decision) is flanked by more environmentally friendly alternatives (58% choose seasonal products, 39% favor freshness and quality).
For Coop Italia, among the leaders of the Italian large-scale retail trade, with a turnover of €16.4 billion in 2023, at +2% on 2022 (of which €14.8 billion developed only by the retail side, and deriving from wine & food for a share around 90% of the total), with a “market share” of 11% of the national large-scale retail trade, making it the second player in the sector, with an impressive growth, as per industrial strategy, of the retailer’s own brand product (Mdd), which has reached 4.5 billion euros in sales and a 40% share of the total in volume, on the side of purchasing behavior, precisely Mdd products and discounters continue to represent the best interpreters of this new “wisdom” of consumption. In the first half of 2024, Mdd reaches 38.2% of total market sales by volume with an increase of 2.2% by value and 2.4% by volume over the same period in 2023, compared to a change in branded products (Top 20) of -0.5 % by value and -2.2 % by volume.
Similarly, the growth of discount stores continues, which, also thanks to a continuous expansion of the sales network, reaches 23% market share, an increase of about 4 percentage points over 2019.
The scenario outlined by the 2024 “Coop Report” - realized with the scientific collaboration of Nomisma, the analytical support of NielsenIQ and original contributions from Circana, GS1-Osservatorio Immagino, CSO Servizi, GfK, Mediobanca Ufficio Studi, and Campo Ricerca-Scomodo, and for some of its parts, with the help of new generative artificial intelligence programs, including Chat Gpt, Bard and Midjourney - “is introduced in an extraordinarily complex and basically expected context, given the various reasons for tension that we face on a daily basis, with some more surprising data that comfort the work of Coop and the trends undertaken in recent years”, comments Maura Latini, president of Coop Italia. “On the consumption side, there is no doubt that the lever of savings is consolidating as primary, and the protection of purchasing power, especially of the most distressed families, is the relevant raison d’être of consumer cooperatives. On the other hand, I register with favor the fact that there persists on the part of Italian consumers an attention to aspects that are not secondary in offering food that is also of quality, respectful of the environment, of those who consume it, but also of those who produce it. Concepts that are even more explicit on the part of the younger generations, who are showing themselves to be true vanguards and trainers of families in terms of modes of consumption and eating. This is a good omen and exactly the perimeter in which our offer moves, all the more so our branded product, which has in it the values of the Coop. I look, then, with renewed confidence to an economic outlook that may be improving, allowing Coop to activate the levers in our possession to better meet the needs of members and consumers”.
“More generally, the data showing a halt to the fall in FMCG volumes are certainly positive, but the consumption scenario still remains weak and characterized by great “volatility”. While on the one hand the inflationary picture seems to be settling down, on the other hand we will have to take into account the fact that prices, although stabilized, are in fact 20% higher than they were in 2021”, says Domenico Brisigotti, Coop Italia’s managing director. “We are witnessing a resumption of the promotional push, which is functional to sustain volumes and the development of intra-brand and inter-channel competition. On the one hand the growth of Mdd continues and on the other that of discount stores even if supported by openings. Coop is consolidating its path with the growth of its Mdd, which in Grocery alone has increased its share by an additional 2 points toward 2023 to 32%. This allows us to ground a supply policy that can cope with the weakness of demand and the competitive environment. Despite this development path of Mdd, it will be fundamental for Coop to develop a relationship with the branded industry aimed on the one hand at enhancing its peculiarities and on the other hand at sustaining its volumes, certainly taking into account the changed scenario that requires a profound revisiting of the relationship. Today, Coop is consolidating its position and after the tensions that the market has shown in recent years, it looks to the future with renewed optimism, on the one hand because of the results, and on the other because of the awareness that Italian families are looking for a proposition capable of combining convenience, quality, made in Italy and sustainability, a track that is destined to remain the hallmark of our product”.
However, the “Coop Report” 2024 confirms the great concern of Italians about the international scenario and ongoing wars, while domestically some improvements in the economic situation and prospects of the country are perceived. “A two-speed country where, however, there remain large pockets of difficulty”, concludes Marco Pedroni, president of Ancc-Coop. “In this regard, during this year consumer cooperatives have achieved an important result, renewing the national labor contract that affects more than 60,000 employees and that will allow an important recovery of the purchasing power of our workers and the strengthening of distinctive rights of consumer cooperation workers. Also on the side of the economic commitment of our cooperatives, the “Dedicated to you” card aimed at families most in need promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture has restarted just these days. A card to which Coop has added a 15% discount on food products. This is the context in which Coop fights inflation and continues to develop a strong policy of offering quality and convenience with its very wide range of Branded Products.We call on the government and institutions to do more for the incomes and consumption of the most distressed part of Italians and to finally conclude that just reform of food stamps that takes many resources away from businesses and end consumers”.
The 2024 edition of the “Coop Report” is all about reading, through the eyes of Italians, the choices they are ready to make and make on a daily basis, starting with their relationship with food. To do this, in addition to the many original contents offered by the Report’s contributors, this edition also made use of two different surveys (“Ideas of the Future” and “Looking Forward”) conducted in the second half of August 2024. The first involved a sample of 1,000 Italians representative of the population over 18 (18-65 years old). The second targeted a panel of the italiani.coop website community and involved 1,000 opinion leaders and market makers. Among them, 540 top roles (ad and directors, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and consultants) were selected who were able to anticipate future trends in the country more than others.