ITALIANS ABROAD: 1 OUT OF 5 PREFERS "ITALIAN" CUISINE. ITALIAN TRAVELERS LIKE TO EXPERIMENT WITH LOCAL SPECIALTIES EVEN THOUGH "FAKE" MADE IN ITALY PRODUCTS ARE EVERYWHERE, REVEALS A COLDIRETTI SURVEY

There are the die-hards: 1 out of 5 Italians on holidays abroad eat Italian cuisine, even though “fake” products are everywhere. However, the Italian traveler is open to new tastes: 70% prefer to try local cuisine, 6% eat “globalized” food (hamburgers are the number one choice) and 4% eat whatever is available. These are the results of the Association of Italian Farmers, Coldiretti, survey, which points out that fake Made in Italy products abroad register a “turnover” of 60 billion euros a year.

Australia, New Zealand and the United States are the countries where fake Made in Italy products are most widespread. In the U.S.A., says Coldiretti, only 2% of the cheese marked as Italian really is imported from Italy. “For the most part, they are imitations and fakes made in the U.S. from American milk in Wisconsin, New York and California”. The situation in emerging countries like China is very worrisome because false Made in Italy products were on the market before the originals arrived, putting product growth at great risk.