Organic sales in Italy have been growing for 10 years

While overall food expenditure continues to fall, for ten years sales of organics in Italy have continued to grow. More than 1,200 outlets specialize in selling organics, and supermarkets and hypermarkets offer organics as well. In the first four months of 2013, Istat, the Italian Statistics Institute, reported a drop in household purchases of food and beverages of 2.1 %. In the first 6 months, according to Ismea, the fall was 3.7%, which impacted both the volume and the value in all major categories.

(Picture: an organic shop in a Coop supermarket)

Sales of organic products, however, have been growing for ten years. The first quarter of 2013 shows an increase in organic sales in supermarkets of 8.8%, following 7.3% in 2012, 9.2% in 2011 and 11.7% in 2010 (GFK-Eurisko/Ismea Panel).
The leaders in organic sales were the north-west and north-east of the Country, together they account for 72% of total expenditure.

(Graph: development of organic sales in Italy)

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Sales in supermarkets (€)	400m	420m	450m	500m	545m	585m
Sales in organic shops (€)	550m	600m	700m	800m	895m	1,005m
Food service (€)	160m	180m	200m	250m	280m	290m
Other sales (€)	160m	170m	200m	250m	280m	295m
Total sales (home market) (€)	1,270m	1,370m	1,550m	1,800m	2,000m	2,175m
Exports (€)	865m	925m	1,000m	1,050m	1,135m	1,200m
Total sales (€)	2.135bn	2.295bn	2.550bn	2.850bn	3.135bn	3.375bn

According to data from the same GFK-Eurisko/Ismea Panel published at the end of December, in the first ten months of year 2013 growth of sales in supermarkets slightly slowed to a nevertheless brilliant +7.5%, with growth over the average for eggs (+17%), biscuits, sweets and snacks, pasta (+9%), rice (+9%), bread substitutes (9%), fresh and processed fruit and vegetables (+8.6%); under the average was the growth of fresh and processed meat (+5.3%) and dairy products (+4.1%); no change for olive oil. (Table: Sales of organics in Italy (2007-2012))

 

The horizon is not limited to supermarkets and hypermarkets. Unlike other European countries, supermarkets do not represent the main sales channel for organics; they exist alongside specialized retail. More than 1,200 outlets throughout Italy specialize in selling organics. They are mainly concentrated in the north (65%), the centre (21.2%) and the south of the country (13.8%). (Picture: an organic shop in Ferrara)
 

The average range of a specialized point of sale is about 1,500 items in stores with a retail area of less than 200m², 3,200 items in bigger stores and over 4,000 items in about 150 organic supermarkets. In mainstream supermarkets organics rarely exceed 350 items. Other channels exist, but with lower economic importance. About 2,500 farmers are engaged in more or less structured direct sales via farm shops or stalls at farmers markets. There are about 300 periodic markets, and about the same number of restaurants. The number of buying groups is growing, but their rather informal structure makes an exact determination difficult. Their number is estimated to be between 800 and 1,200 units. (Picture: The organic supermarket chain NaturaSì offers a wide range of products)
 

Every day in 2012, Italians spent in supermarkets alone about €100,000 to buy 67,000 litres of milk, €93,000 on 20 tons of organic yogurt and almost €160,000 on 400,000 eggs (AC Nielsen and IRI Infoscan).These numbers are very respectable, as is the performance of companies. For example, since 2006 the market leader for jams and marmalades has been an organic farm - Rigoni di Asiago Spa, whose sales are higher than all the industrial non-organic competitors and higher than all the supermarkets’ private label lines. The company regularly has a market share of over 20%.

(Picture: Rigoni di Asiago jams)

In September 2013, the association of organic processing and trade companies, AssoBio, released preliminary data from an analysis of its members. The sample consists of 15 major companies in the organic industry, three of which are commercial companies owned by farmers.In addition to organic certification, the 15 companies rely on 48 additional certifications: 9 are certified for gluten-free production, 6 IFS (International Featured Standards), 5 BRC (safety and quality certification programme), 5 Kosher, 4 ISO 9001, and 3 GlobalGap. Other certification schemes are, for example, ISO 22005 (traceability of supply chain), ISO 14064 (greenhouse gases), SA 8000 (social responsibility), and fair trade. The panel’s mix of commercial channels is comprehensive: the monitored companies work in all channels - organic specialized retailers, supermarkets, food, industry, wholesalers, exporting and more. (Picture: a meeting of AssoBio memers)

The average growth in 2012 was 7% for the domestic market and 6.1% for exports, with an average growth in sales of 6.9% (with a peak of +21.7% in the domestic market and +34.6% in exports). More than half of the samples grew by over 7% in the first half of 2013. Another 40% of companies had a lower increase but in any case were selling more than previous year: they increased their turnover by between 2 and 7%. Only one recorded a slight economic downturn. The companies feel positive and agree on the forecast of growth for their own and industry sales for 2013 with stable margins. In terms of employment, almost half of the companies plan to increase their workforce.
 





 

Table 1: Sales of the AssoBio sample of organic companies
 

	Domestic sales 2010	Export 2010	Total 2010	Domestic sales 2011	Export 2011	Total 2011	Domestic sales 2012	Export 2012	Total 2012
Mio. €	320.2	51.8	372.0	354.8	56.4	411.2	379.5	59.9	439.4
var. on previous year (%)	nd	nd	nd	+10.8	+8.8	+10.5	+7.0	+6.1	+6.9

Table: 2 Mix of sales of the AssoBio sample of organic companies

 

	Super-markets	Organic retail	Other retail	Whole-saler	Pro-cessing	Food  service	Other sales
Mio euros	78.2	244.1	12.0	25.6	3.7	5.8	10.1
% of mix	20.6	64.3	3.2	6.8	1	1.5	2.7