06 Set Sana Observatory 2019: The competitive positioning of Bio made in Italy on foreign markets
In 2018, sales of organic-branded food products in all types of channels (modern distribution, specialized stores in organic products, small neighborhood stores, commercial and collective catering, markets, GAS …) reached € 4,089 million, marking a + 5.3% compared to 2017 (with the same perimeter on the analyzed sales channels) and with a growth in the last decade equal to 171%.
The export of organic Italian food products came close to 2.3 billion euros in 2018, registering new growth (+ 10% compared to 2017) and reaching a significant role in the basket of Made in Italy products (5.5% on the total Italian agri-food export). A brighter growth than that recorded by agri-food exports as a whole which, exceeding 41 billion euros in 2018, has “advanced” by + 1.3% over the previous year.
Organic is increasingly present in Italian homes: 86% of Italians had at least one opportunity to purchase an organic product in 2018 and 51% said they consumed organic food at least once a week.
Italians choose organic products because they express significant values for consumer choices: 52% buy organic because they are healthy / good products, 47% because they offer greater security and quality guarantees, 26% because they respect the environment and they pollute less.
The weight of the bio on the food trolley is also growing: today it is 3.7% (in 2000 it was 0.7% – source: Nielsen). Eggs (98 million euros, year ending June 2019, source: Nielsen), fruit-based spreadable jams (89 million euros) and rice cakes (51 million euros) are the categories of products that drive organic sales in GDO.